I 
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THE 


SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

AND  the; 

\  ERIC  AN  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  UNION 


1780-191? 


■ 


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DW1N  WILBUR  RICE 


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FROM   THE   LIBRARY   OF 
REV.   LOUIS    FITZGERALD    BENSON,   D.  D. 

BEQUEATHED   BY   HIM   TO 

THE   LIBRARY  OF 

PRINCETON   THEOLOGICAL   SEMINARY 


sec 


THE 

Sunday-School  Movemen 

1780  1917 

and  the 


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.  OCT  23  1937 


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UGICALS^ 


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American  Sunday-School  Union 


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1917 


By 

ILBUR  RICE 

y  School  Society;    Honorary  Editor  of  the 
ember  of  the  Phi  Beta  Kappa  Society; 
pciety;    the    American    Academy 
il    Science,    etc.,   etc.,   etc 


DELPHIA 

AY-SCHOOL   UNION 
rNUT  Street 


REV.    EDWARD   W.   RICE 

Inquirer      felicitates     a     well- 
:  gynian  on  the  annrversary  of 
irth. 


Copyright,  1917,  by  the 
American  Sunday-School  Union 


FOREWORD  TO  THE  READER 


This  work  was  not  written  to  order;  it  has  been  a  growth.  My 
researches  into  the  origin  and  principles  of  the  modern  Sunday-school 
began  as  a  college  graduate  student  in  a  pioneer  service,  about  1854. 
These  researches  have  continued  for  an  exceptionally  long  period  of 
personal  observation  and  service,  in  about  every  form  and  phase  of  the 
institution  in  America  and  Europe.  Rare  opportunities  were  providen- 
tially offered  for  years,  especially  by  becoming  the  custodian  of  probably 
the  largest  and  choicest  collection  of  first-hand  documents  and  material 
relating  to  the  origin  and  early  development  of  the  movement  that  is  to 
be  found  anywhere  in  America  or  the  world. 

It  is  significant  that  the  greatest  growth  of  the  modern  Sunday-school 
has  not  been  where  it  started,  but  in  America.  The  membership  in 
the  United  States  is  easily  double  that  of  Great  Britain,  and  equals  that 
in  all  the  other  countries  of  the  world. 

A  mass  of  historical  material  has  been  examined  in  collections  in  libra- 
ries and  historical  societies  in  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain,  and 
the  important  facts  sifted  for  the  benefit  of  the  reader.  Legions  of  excel- 
lent works  have  been  issued  on  phases  of  the  institution  and  along  various 
educational,  denominational,  and  other  lines.  These  fragmentary  treat- 
ises have  increased  the  demand  for  a  general  work  giving  a  comprehensive 
view  of  the  institution:  (1)  as  a  great  laymen's  movement,  (2)  as  promot- 
ing a  spirit  of  Christian  unity  for  service,  and  (3)  as  a  great  missionary 
agency  for  the  universal  spread  of  the  gospel  of  Christ — making  it  a  re- 
markable phenomenon  in  the  progress  of  Christianity. 

The  modern  Sunday-school  was  not  new  in  its  teaching,  but  was  so  new 
in  form  as  to  require  a  long  campaign  of  education  and  a*practical  test  of 
its  value  for  a  generation  before  it  won  the  confidence  of  the  public  and 
of  the  churches.  From  the  first,  however,  it  was  advocated  by  Christian 
laymen  of  different  creeds,  aided  here  and  there  by  clergymen  who  had 
the  grace  to  perceive,  and  the  grit  and  greatness  to  declare,  that  Christ's 
kingdom  was  larger  and  more  important  than  anyone  or  a  score  of 
sects  into  which  Protestantism  had  divided.  Its  success  in  any  commun- 
ity depended  upon  uniting  existing  Christian  forces  in  its  support.  The 
founders  were  forced,-  therefore,  to  seek  a  basis  of  unity  in  Christian  ser- 
vice. They  found  it  in  declaring  for  a  positive  teaching  of  the  essential 
truths  of  the  Bible  as  held  by  all  Christians,  and  in  a  neutral  attitude  on 
those  doctrines  upon  which  they  differed.  The  majority  of  the  modern 
Sunday-schools  in  the  early  days  were  formed  on  this  basis. 

3 


4  FOREWORD  TO  THE  READER 

It  seems  fitting,  therefore,  to  present  any  comprehensive  narrative  of 
the  origin  and  progress  of  the  institution  in  sympathy  with  that  broad 
spirit  of  Christian  charity  and  unity  in  which  it  was  conceived,  and 
also  from  a  union  point  of  view.  Moreover,  in  any  account  of  the 
modern  Sunday-school,  the  American  Sunday-School  Union  cannot  fail 
to  be  recognized  for  its  prominent  pioneer  service  in  shaping  the  insti- 
tution and  in  extending  it  to  the  multitude  of  those  otherwise  unreached 
by  the  gospel,  and  in  preparing  and  providing  literature  and  aids  to  Bible 
study  on  the  same  principle  of  Christian  unity  in  which  the  Sunday- 
school  movement  was  itself  conceived.  Nor  would  any  account  of  the 
American  Sunday-School  Union  be  regarded  as  adequate  or  satisfactory 
that  did  not  give  a  reasonably  full  sketch  of  the  conditions  and  influences 
which  preceded,  in  the  providence  of  God,  the  forming  of  the  Union.  It 
should  also  include  some  record  of  the  multitude  of  varied  denominational 
and  interdenominational  activities  which  have  followed,  and  in  some 
measure  have  been  stimulated  by  the  mission  and  services  of  the  Union — 
activities  which  it  aimed  to  promote  at  home  and  abroad.  For  the 
American  Sunday-School  Union  has  not  sought  nor  wrought  for  itself, 
but  for  the  Master's  sake  and  for  the  spread  of  Christianity.  Well-nigh 
100,000  of  its  Union  schools  in  almost  as  many  fields  have  voluntarily 
ceased  to  be  Union,  and  gladly  transferred  their  members  toward  the 
founding  or  strengthening  of  churches  of  Christ  of  all  denominations, 
according  to  their  preferences.  The  task  confronting  the  Society  is  even 
greater  now  than  at  any  previous  period  of  its  history. 

The  scope  and  structure  of  this  book  naturally  grew  out  of  these  facts 
and  conditions.  Painstaking  care  has  been  exercised  to  note  the  impor- 
tant epochs  and  events  of  the  Sunday-school  movement.  These  have 
boon  derived  neither  from  tradition  nor  hearsay,  but  wholly  or  chiefly 
from  first-hand  information.  This  has  called  for  extended  research,  and 
for  the  wisdom  and  discrimination  of  many  minds,  that  have  generously 
responded  to  the  call  of  the  author.  They  have  greatly  lightened  the 
task  not  only  by  suggesting  what  was  of  worth  and  value  and  of  interest 
to  bo  included,  but  also  in  the  more  difficult  art  of  deciding  what  might 
be  excluded  from  the  narrative. 

While  the  record  of  the  multiplied  pioneer  activities  of  the  American 
Sunday-School  Union  for  one  hundred  years  called  for  a  generous  space 
in  the  narrative,  it  has  been  the  chief  purpose  of  the  author  to  present: 

(1)  A  clear  and  concise  account  of  the  origin  and  progress  of  the  modern 
Sunday-school  in  England  and  of  Sunday-school  organizations  in  Great 
Britain. 

(2)  The  phenomenal  extension  of  the  institution  in  America  and  in 
Other  countries  of  the  world. 

(3)  The  great  enthusiasm  in  lay  and  voluntary  teaching  which  it  de- 
veloped, enlisting  Christians  of  every  class  and  creed. 


FOREWORD  TO  THE  READER  5 

(4)  The  production  and  free  circulation  of  masses  of  religious  literature, 
supplying  city,  village,  and  rural  communities  of  all  English-speaking 
countries  and  of  many  mission  fields  throughout  the  world.. 

(5)  The  remarkable  number  of  Sunday  scholars  added  to  the  churches, 
and  the  universal  interest  aroused  by  national  and  international  conven- 
tions and  associations  and  assemblies,  denominational  and  interdenomina- 
tional, making  the  Sunday-school  a  world-wide  power  in  spreading  Chris- 
tianity. 

But  the  Sunday-school  has  not  yet  enlisted  the  world  in  Bible  study 
or  Bible  reading.  Serious  problems  and  immense  tasks  still  confront  the 
fulfilment  of  its  high  ideals.  Though  the  institution  has  passed  the  ex- 
perimental stage,  it  is  yet  comparatively  in  its  youthful  period.  Its  origin 
and  achievements  to  the  present  may  be  chronicled;  its  history  cannot 
be  written  while  its  great  work  remains  undone.  At  many  points,  there- 
fore, the  narrative  may  seem  to  the  reader  fragmentary.  No  one  is  more 
conscious  of  this  than  the  author.  He  asks  the  reader  not  to  forget  that 
the  institution  itself  is  still  making  history. 

The  author  has  throughout  the  volume  endeavored  to  acknowledge  his 
indebtedness  to  the  multitude  of  authors  of  special  works  on  Sunday- 
school  development.  Lest  any  should  have  been  omitted,  he  makes  this 
general  acknowledgment  here  of  his  obligations  to  all  those  who  have 
written  so  fully  upon  the  various  phases  of  Sunday-school  work,  and  to 
all  others  who  have  with  marked  kindness  and  alacrity  responded  to  his 
requests  for  information. 

Thanks  are  particularly  due  to  the  librarians  of  the  Historical  Society 
of  New  York,  of  the  Union  Theological  Seminary,  of  the  Boston  Public 
Library,  of  the  State  Historical  Society  of  Ohio,  of  the  Philadelphia 
Library,  and  to  many  other  librarians  and  curators  for  their  courtesy  in 
the  free  use  of  documents  in  their  respective  institutions,  and  for  their 
helpful  aid  in  discovering  the  hidden  riches  stored  in  their  published  and 
unpublished  records.  Similar  obligations  are  due  to  prominent  workers 
in  America  and  abroad  for  many  facts  and  suggestions  contained  in  their 
correspondence.  The  author  has  aimed  to  make  particular  acknowledg- 
ment of  these  in  the  body  of  the  work. 

Special  appreciation  and  thanks  must  be  given  also  to  the  managers 
of  the  American  Sunday-School  Union,  without  whose  cordial  co-opera- 
tion and  generous  action  in  relieving  the  author  from  other  duties  this 
work  could  not  have  been  prepared. 

The  volume  has  been  enriched  by  the  painstaking  care  with  which 
William  H.  Hirst,  Business  Superintendent  of  the  American  Sunday- 
School  Union,  has  collated  and  grouped  the  engravings  and  portraits. 

The  author  highly  appreciates  the  valuable  criticisms  and  suggestions 
of  the  Editor,  Rev.  James  McConaughy,  Litt.D.,  and  of  Rev.  A.  J.  R. 
Schumaker,  Assistant  Editor,  who  carefully  read  the  work. 


6  FOREWORD  TO  THE  READER 

A  like  recognition  is  made  of  suggestions  in  respect  to  the  structure  and 
form  of  the  work  by  Rev.  Moseley  H.  Williams,  Ph.D.;  for  statistics  of 
missionary  work  furnished  by  Rev.  George  P.  Williams,  D.D.,  Secretary 
of  Missions;  for  financial  information  and  facts  provided  by  John  E. 
Stevenson,  Treasurer,  and  for  the  careful  proof-reading,  while  the  book  was 
passing  through  the  press,  of  V.  Winfield  Challenger. 

The  ghastly  conflict  into  which  the  nations  of  Christendom  have  been 
suddenly  hurled  painfully  reveals  to  us  the  little  progress  of  all  Christian 
instruction  in  making  obedient  disciples  of  Christ  in  the  nations.  The 
forces  of  the  church  through  the  Sunday-school  with  its  lay  teaching 
have  scarcely  begun  the  very  elementary  work  of  properly  interpreting 
and  exemplifying  the  gospel.  We  have  been  playing  at  this  herculean 
task.  It  must  be  more  seriously  grasped  if  we  are  to  win  the  world  in 
the  name  of  our  Lord  and  Master,  Jesus  Christ. 

Should  this  effort  to  portray  the  origin,  spirit,  and  method  of  the 
Sunday-school  movement  in  its  effort  to  unite  the  whole  world  in  the 
study  of  the  Bible  aid  in  giving  a  more  intelligent  grasp  of  the  problem 
to  Sunday-school  workers,  the  author  will  devoutly  thank  God  that  he 
has  been  permitted  to  have  a  share  in  promoting  a  world-wide  searching 
of  the  Scriptures. 

EDWIN  WILBUR  RICE. 

May,  1917. 


Sunday-school  Movement — 1 


CONTENTS 


Section  Page 

I. — Origin  op  the  Modern  Sunday-School 11 

Rural  England  in  the  Eighteenth  Century,  11;  Robert  Raikes,  13;  The 
Voluntary  Principle,  17;  Raikes'  Instruction,  18:  Opposition  to  the 
Sunday-school,  19;  Advocates  for  It,  20;  Organized  Sunday-School 
Societies,  21;  The  Sunday-School  Society  of  1785,  21;  The  London 
Sunday-School  Union,  22;  Union  Lessons,  26;  The  Hibernian  Sunday- 
School  Society  of  Ireland,  28;  The  London  Hibernian  Society,  28; 
Church  of  England  Sunday-School  Institute,  29;  The  Wesleyan  Sunday- 
School  Union,  30;  Sabbath-Schools  in  Scotland,  31;  Sunday-Schools  in 
Continental  Europe,  32;  Instruction  in  Great  Britain,  35. 

II. — The  Sunday-School  in  America 40 

Toleration  and  Education  in  America,  40;  Early  Sunday-Schools,  42; 
Organized  Sunday-School  Movement,  44;  The  First  Day  Society,  44; 
The  Voluntary  System,  48;  Why  the  Eariy  Movement  was  Union,  49; 
Union  Society  of  1804,  51;  The  Evangelical  Society,  51;  Church  Schools, 
53;  Why  Organized  Unions,  54;  Sunday-School  Union  Societies  in  New 
York,  55;  A  Larger  Union,  60;  Sunday  and  Adult  School  Union,  60; 
Seven  Years  of  Formative  Work,  64;  Its  Literature  and  Results,  66; 
Broadened  Service,  67;  First  Sunday-School  Missionary,  68;  Spirit  of 
Christian  Unity,  70;  Early  Modes  of  Instruction,  72;  Memorizing  Era, 
74;  Rewards  and  Penalties,  75;  Teaching  Methods,  76;  American 
Sunday-School  Union,  78;  Objects,  79;  Basis,  80;  Members  and  Man- 
agement, 81 ;  Scope  and  Field,  85;  Public  Schools,  86;  Systematic  Survey, 
87;  Family  Instruction  Aided,  89;  Church  Relations  Urged,  89;  Three 
Lines  of  Work,  90;  Campaign  of  Education  and  State  Organization,  92. 

Sketches  of  Prominent  Workers,  95:  Alexander  Henry  (1766-1847), 
First  President  of  the  American  Sunday-School  Union,  1818-1847,  95; 
Joseph  H.  Dulles  (1795-1876),  98;  Francis  Scott  Key  (1780-1843),  99. 

III. — Uniform  Limited  Bible  Lessons 101 

Memorizing  Era,  101;  Educational  Theories,  101;  Uniform  Limited 
Lessons,  102;  Aids  on  Lessons,  103;  Judson's  Questions,  107;  Art  of 
Questioning,  109;  Bible  Dictionaries,  111;  Five-Year  Lesson  Cycle 
(1827),  112;  Union  Questions— Nine-Year  Cycle,  113;  Public  Examina- 
tions, 113;  Relation  to  Public  Instruction,  115;  Inductive  Theory,  116; 
Theory  of  Spontaneity,  117;  The  Word  Method,  117;  The  Monitorial 
Theory,  117;  Lesson  Theory,  118;  Training  Theory,  118;  The  "Verse-a- 
Day"  Plan,  119;  Bible  Doctrines,  120. 

Sketches  of  Prominent  Workers,  122:  Archibald  Alexander,  D.D., 
LL.D.  (1772-1851),  122;  Hon.  Willard  Hall  (1827-1875),  124;  Theodore 
Frelinghuysen,  LL.D.  (1787-1862),  125;  John  Hall,  of  Trenton,  N.  J. 
(1806-1894),  126. 

IV. — Opposition  to  Sunday-Schools  and  to  Unions 128 

Why  Opposed,  128;  Opposition  to  Organized  Union,  129;  Charter 
Remonstrants,  130. 

Sketches  of  Prominent  Workers,  135:  James  Waddell  Alexander 
(1804-1859),  135;  Abraham  Martin  (1793-1880),  136. 

7 


8  CONTENTS 

Section  Page 

V. — Creating  Juvenile  Literature 139 

Juvenile  Literature  in  1800,  139;  Character  of  Literature  Demanded, 
141;  Fiction  or  No?  144;  Engravings  Appeal  to  Eye-gate,  145;  Moral 
Works,  145;  Libraries  for  Schools  and  Families,  146;  Juvenile  Hymns  and 
Songs,  147;  Periodicals,  Early  Period,  157;  American  Sunday-School 
Magazine,  158:  Weekly  Sunday-School  Journal,  160;  Juvenile  Illustrated 
Periodicals,  162;  Infants'  Magazine,  164;  Periodicals,  Middle  Period, 
165;  The  Sunday-School  Times,  165;  New  Illustrated  Periodicals,  166; 
Periodicals,  Later  Period,  168;  Periodicals  for  Scholars,  170;  Illustrated 
Reading  for  the  Home,  172. 

Sketches  of  Prominent  Workers,  174:  Frederick  Adolphus  Packard, 
LL.D.,  Editor  and  Secretarv  (1829-1867),  174;  Hon.  James  Pollock, 
LL.D.  (1810-1890),  177;  John  Seely  Hart,  LL.D.  (1810-1877),  Editor 
of  Periodicals  (1858-1860),  179;  Richard  Newton,  D.D.  (1813-1887), 
Editor  of  Periodicals  (1867-1877),  180;  Samuel  Austin  Allibone,  LL.D. 
(1816-18S9),  Editor  (1868-1879),  181;  John  Hall,  D.D.,  New  York 
(1829-1898),  181;  Henry  Clay' Trumbull,  D.D.,  LL.D.  (1830-1903), 
Missionary  and  Normal  Secretary  (1858-1875),  182;  Richard  Gay 
Pardee  (1811-1869),  184;  George  Starr  Schofield  (1810-1887),  186; 
John  W.  Dulles,  187. 

VI. — Missionary  and  Extension  Work 188 

Laymen  Recognized,  188;  Work  by  Auxiliaries,  189;  Specialized  Service, 
190;  General  Agents,  192;  Voluntary  Effort  Insufficient,  192;  Public 
Meetings,  193;  Delegated  Conferences,  193;  Mississippi  Valley  Enter- 
prise, 195;  A  National  Meeting,  198;  Laymen's  Mission,  200;  Mission 
Plans  and  Results,  200;  The  Southern  Enterprise,  202;  Call  for  World- 
wide Work,  205;  Women's  Auxiliary,  207;  Women  as  Authors,  209. 

Sketches  of  Prominent  Workers,  210;  A.  W.  Corey  (1803-1880), 
210;  John  Adams,  LL.D.  (1772-1863),  Missionary  (1842-1853),  212; 
Hon.  John  McLean,  Second  President  of  the  American  Sunday-S&hool 
Union  (1848-1861),  214;  John  A.  Brown  (1788-1872),  Third  President 
of  the  American  Sundav-School  Union  (1861-1872),  Merchant,  Banker 
and  Philanthropist,  216;  Lorin  B.  Tousley  (1804-1864),  217. 

VII. — Missionary  and  Extension  Work  Systematized 219 

Systematic  Surveys,  219;  A.  W.  Corey's  Record,  222;  Students  as 
Missionaries,  223;  Overcoming  Difficulties,  228. 

Progress  by  Periods,  230:  First  Period,  230;  Second  Period,  230;  The 
Society  as  an  Educator,  232;  Literature  as  an  Aid  to  Missions,  233; 
Missionary  Conferences,  234;  Methods  of  Administration,  236;  No 
Debt"  Policy,  242;  Secretary  of  Missions,  243;  Third  Period,  244;  The 
Civil  War,  248;  Self-denial  of  Workers,  249;  Rehabilitation,  251; 
Chicago  Confercnee,  253;  Teacher  Training,  253;  A  Trained  Helper,  255; 
A  Jubilee,  257;  National  Leaders,  258;  Fourth  Period,  259;  The  Union 
Sunday-School  a  Handmaid  of  the  Church,  261;  Sunday-School  Evan- 
gelism, 263;  Bible  Supply,  264;  Story  of  Mag,  264;  Pastoral  Service, 
264;  House-to-house  Work,  265. 

Skf.tthks  ok  Prominent  Workers,  266:  Benjamin  Williams  Chidlaw, 
DI).  (1811  1892),  Missionary  and  Superintendent  (1836-1892),  266; 
John  Mrfullagh  (1811-1SSS),  Missionary  and  Superintendent  (1841- 
1881).  289;  Stephen  Paxson  (1S08-1881),  Missionary  (1848-1868), 
Agent  (1888-l.ssn,  271;  William  P.  Paxson,  D.D.  (1837-1896).  Super- 
intendent (1868-1896),  274;  Maurice  Alexander  Wurts  (1S20-1881), 
Secretary  of  Missions  (lstil-1881).  275;  Martin  Brown  Lewis  (1820- 
1912).  Missionary  for  Fifty-two  Yean,  276:   L.  Milton  Marsh  (1820- 

OgD  (1837-1906),  Super- 
intendent of  Missions  for  the  Northwest  (1870-1906),  279. 

VIII. — HOUSING  Tin  Institution 281 

Boosing  the  Bunday-8chool,  281:  Housing  in  Qreal  Britain,  281;  Hous- 
ing in  America,  282;  Housing  Union  Schools,  283;  Mission  Chapels,  284; 
ag     Sunday-School     Societies,     285;     Housing    Denominational 
Sunday-School  organizations,  290. 


CONTENTS  9 

Section  Page 

IX. — International  Lessons,  1872-1925  (Uniform  and  Graded)  294 

Preparedness  for  Them,  294;  Committee  Conferences,  298;  The  System 
Approved  by  the  American  Sunday-School  Union,  300;  Primary  Class 
System,  303;  Convention  of  1872,  304;  Lesson  Cycles  (1873-1918),  305; 
Lesson  Committee,  British  and  American  Sections,  308;  Estimates  of 
Lesson  Systems,  309;  Graded  Lesson  Systems,  310;  British  Graded 
Lessons,  314. 

X.— Finances 318 

Working  by  Faith,  318;  General  Fund  and  Mission  Fund,  319;  Increased 
Overdrafts,  320;  Debt  and  Porter  Loss,  321;  Expansion  or  Retrench- 
ment, 323;  Financial  Perils,  324;  New  Measures,  326;  New  Executive 
Committee,  327;  Funds  to  be  Increased,  328;  Churches  Founded,  330; 
Plan  for  Capital,  330;  Literature  at  Cost,  331;  Bequests  and  Gifts,  331; 
Funds  Yet  Needed,  334;  Finances  of  Conventions  and  Associations,  335; 
State  Sunday-School  Unions,  337;  Finances  of  Local  Schools,  338. 

Sketches  of  Prominent  Workers,  339:  Jay  Cooke  (1821-1905),  Man- 
ager (1854-1861),  Vice-President  (1870-1905),  339;  George  Hay  Stuart 
(1816-1890),  1848-1883,  340;  Robert  Lenox  Kennedy  (1822-1887), 
Fourth  President  of  the  American  Sunday-School  Union  (1873-1882), 
342;  Lewis  R.  Ashhurst,  343;  Levi  Knowles  (1813-1898),  Manager, 
Treasurer  and  Vice-President  (1842-1898),  345;  Hon.  William  Strong, 
LL.D.  (1808-1895),  Fifth  President  of  the  American  Sunday-School 
Union  (1883-1895),  346;  Alexander  Brown  (1815-1893),  347;  Samuel 
Ashhurst,  M.D.,  348;  John  H.  Converse,  LL.D.  (1894-1910),  349. 

XI. — Conventions,  Associations,  Institutes,  Assemblies  and 

Organized  Denominational  Sunday-School  Work  . .  351 

Early  Conventions,  351;  Preliminary  National  Sunday-School  Conven- 
tion, 352;  Called  by  American  Sunday-School  Union,  355;  First  National 
Sunday-School  Convention,  356;  Second  National  Convention,  359; 
State  Unions  and  Conventions,  363;  International  Conventions,  364; 
World  Sunday-School  Conventions,  367;  Conventions  or  Associations, 
368;  Institutes,  370;  Assemblies  and  Schools  of  Methods,  373;  Teacher 
Training,  376;  Trained  Leadership,  377;  Organized  Denominational 
Sunday-School  Work,  378;  The  Denominational  Council,  380. 

XII. — A  Twentieth  Century  View 388 

Rural  Conditions,  388;  Evangelical  Literature,  391;  United  States 
Commission,  393;  Twentieth  Century  Plans,  395;  The  Sunday-School 
Union  Not  Building  for  Itself,  399;  Survevs  by  Sections,  401;  New  Eng- 
land and  Oldest  Sections,  402;  Eastern  and  Middle  Section,  405;  Central 
Northwest,  406;  Dr.  Cuyler's  Testimony,  407;  The  Southwest  Section, 
408;  The  South  Section,  409;  The  Negro  Race,  411;  Rocky  Mountain 
Section,  412;  The  Pacific  Coast  Section,  416;  After  the  Century— What 
Next?  419;  Union  Schools  Strengthen  Churches,  420;  Forty  Million  Un- 
reached, 420;  The  Next  Great  Task,  420;  New  England,  421;  Eastern 
Central  States,  422;  The  Northwest,  423;  The  Rockv  Mountain  and 
Pacific  States,  424;  The  Southwest,  425;  The  New  Old  South,  426;  How 
Master  the  Mighty  Task?  428;  Spiritual  Character,  430;  Preparedness 
for  the  Task,  433. 

Sketches  of  Prominent  Workers,  434:  Morris  Ketchum  Jesup 
(1830-1908),  Sixth  President  of  the  American  Sunday-School  Union 
(1896-1908),  434;  James  M.  Crowell,  D.D.  (1827-1908),  Secretary  of 
Missions  (1883-1908),  435 

Appendix 437 

Raikes'  Record,  437;  Voluntary  Plan,  438;  Discipline  in  Raikes'  Schools, 
439;  Raikes  a  Bible  Student,  439;  Fox's  Wish  for  the  Bible,  440-  Oppo- 
sition to  Sunday-Schools,  440;  Sunday-Schools  Before  Robert  Raikes 
(1780),  441;  Robert  May,  444;  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Divie  Bethune,  445;  List 
of  Sunday-Schools  and  Societies  Connected  with  the  Sunday  and  Adult 
School  Union  Which,  Therefore,  Assented  to  its  Change  of  Name  to  the 
American   Sunday-School   Union   in    1824,   447;    1817-1917,    Date   of 


10  CONTENTS 


Beginning  of  the  American  Sunday-School  Union,  452;  The  Basis,  454; 
Utica  Union  Sunday-School,  456;  First  Yearly  Course  of  Scripture 
Lessons  for  Sunday-Schools.  Revised  in  1826,  457;  Scripture  Lessons 
Selected  for  a  Second  Annual  Course  of  Instruction.  Revised  in  1826, 
459;  Schools  for  Teachers,  461;  Debate  on  Granting  a  Charter  to  the 
American  Sunday-School  Union,  461;  Juvenile  Literature,  1800,  462; 
English  Works  vs.  American,  463;  Revision  of  Publications,  463;  Anni- 
versary Hymns,  464 ;  Five-fold  Treatment  and  Expositions  of  the  Sunday- 
School  Lessons  of  1830,  an  Adaptation  of  Gall's  Lesson  System,  465; 
Testimony  of  Henry  Ward  Beecher,  467;  Call  for  a  National  Sunday- 
School  Convention  as  Proposed  by  the  American  Sunday-School  Union, 
1832,  468;  Circular  to  Sunday-School  Teachers  and  Superintendents, 
468;  Interrogatories,  469;  Churches  and  Confessions,  474;  Churches 
Organized  in  Twenty-five  Years,  476;  Sunday-School  Missionaries  Who 
Have  Formed  1,000  or  More  Sunday-Schools,  477;  Captain  W.  W. 
Bradshaw,  477;  T.  W.  Dimmock,  477;  Rev.  Isaac  Emory,  477;  Rev. 
G.  S.  Jones,  477;  J.  P.  Lane,  478;  Martin  B.  Lewis,  478;  Rev.  John 
McCullagh,  478;  Rev.  G.  E.  Mize,  478;  Stephen  Paxson,  478;  C.  B. 
Rhodes,  478. 


THE 

SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

AND  THE 

AMERICAN  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  UNION 


SECTION  I 

ORIGIN  OF  THE  MODERN  SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

What  inspired  the  modern  Sunday-school  movement? 
How  came  it  to  be?  We  may  reverently  answer — God  in- 
spired it;  social  conditions  and  the  spirit  of  Christianity  called 
for  it. 

What  was  the  condition  of  society  in  the  eighteenth  century? 
Look  at  the  picture  of  Europe  as  drawn  by  such  judicious  his- 
torians as  Green,  Lecky,  and  Lord  Mahon.  The  titled  classes 
were  spotted  with  moral  rottenness!  Glance  at  English  peas- 
ant life  in  that  period.  Are  not  the  life  and  manners  of  masters 
an  index  of  the  character  of  the  servants? 

Rural  England  in  the  Eighteenth  Century. — No  one  can 
intelligently  grasp  the  great  incentive  to  the  modern  Sunday- 
school  movement  without  some  knowledge  of  the  physical, 
intellectual,  and  moral  conditions  of  the  masses  in  that  day. 
The  farming  classes  bulked  large  in  rural  England.  They 
were  poorly  housed  and  not  well  clothed  or  fed.  The  rustic 
dwelling  was  rudely  put  together  of  stone  or  pebbles  mixed 
with  mud,  with  a  mud  floor,  a  thatched  roof,  a  smoky  at- 
mosphere, and  little  warmth.  The  dwelling  consisted  usually 
of  two  rooms,  made  by  a  thin  partition,  sometimes  of  old 
sacking  hung  on  a  line,  which  also  answered  for  drying  gar- 
ments. Windows  for  light  were  rare.  Often  the  door  and 
the  large  fireplace  answered  both  for  light  and  ventilation. 

11 


12  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

Geese,  chickens,  pigs,  and  people  not  infrequently  found 
shelter  in  the  same  rustic  dwelling. 

The  clothing  was  coarse;  the  commonest  article  being  a 
smock,  which  was  a  sexless  garment.  It  was  worn  by  men  as 
a  wagoner's  frock;  women  tied  it  at  the  waist  and  it  became 
a  gown.  The  freshness  and  size  of  it  indicated  the  prosperity 
of  the  wearer.  Shoes  were  luxuries,  wisps  of  straw  sometimes 
kept  the  feet  and  legs  warm  in  winter. 

Women  did  farm  work  and  were  expert  in  using  the  fork  for 
turning  muckheaps.  They  could  make  barley  and  oaten 
bread,  baked  on  hot  bricks,  or  cakes  cooked  in  hot  ashes,  but 
they  knew  less  about  cookery  in  general  than  about  field  work. 
Potatoes  were  rare;  often  there  were  none  at  all.  Bread,  beer, 
cheese,  and  coarse  meat  were  the  chief  articles  of  diet.  The 
meals  were  served  on  a  long  table  in  a  big  kitchen.  Sometimes 
three  or  four  generations  met  there,  seated  on  high-backed 
settles,  or  on  the  floor  with  the  chickens  and  pigs.  The  most 
hilarious  meal  was  the  supper,  when  the  day's  work  was  done. 
Master  and  mistress,  farm  hand,  maids  and  children  ate  salt 
pork  or  barley  bread  from  wooden  trenchers  or  metal*  plates 
and  drank  liberally  of  beer  or  cider.  Candles  were  of  split 
rushes,  dipped  in  fat,  giving  a  sickly  light.  The  farm  hand 
slept  on  barley  straw  in  the  garret,  under  the  rafters  or  thatched 
roof,  and  made  his  toilet  with  the  master,  mistress,  and  maids 
at  the  water  trough  in  the  yard. 

Illiteracy  was  common.  There  was  no  system  of  national 
or  popular  education;  few  attended  an  elementary  school. 
There  were  not  3,500  public  and  private  schools,  it  was 
said,  in  all  England.  A  private  school  kept  by  a  woman  was 
called  a  "Mam"  school,  and  if  kept  by  a  man  it  was  called  a 
"GarTar"  school.  School  hours  were  uncertain,  often  depend- 
ing on  the  number  of  visits  the  master  made  to  the  ale  house, 
or  on  the  domestic  engagements  of  the  woman.  She  made 
bread,  spun,  washed,  and  heard  the  children  say  their  a-b-c's 
at  the  same  time.  The  man  often  kept  his  school  and  his 
business  running  together.  He  might  be  a  shopkeeper  or 
blacksmith,  as  well  as  a  schoolmaster.  He  could  cipher  just 
a  little  and  make  some  flourishes  with  a  quill  pen.  Usually  he 
stimulated  the  ideas  of  his  pupils  with  the  branches  of  a  birch 
tree  that  grew  near  the  school.     Sometimes  the  school  was 


ORIGIN  OF  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  13 

attached  to  the  church  and  taught  by  the  vicar,  whose  "  living'7 
amounted  to  five  pounds  a  year,  with  a  cottage  and  an  acre  of 
land.  His  church  was  the  schoolhouse;  and  one  vicar,  Robert 
Walker,  had  a  spinning  wheel  within  the  altar  rail  and  is  said 
to  have  used  the  communion  table  as  his  desk.  He  was  at- 
tired in  a  cloth  cap,  wooden  shoes,  and  a  long  gray  gown,  spun 
by  his  own  hand,  with  a  leathern  strap  tied  around  his  waist. 
He  sheared  his  own  sheep,  fed  his  own  hogs,  and  attended 
market  fairs.  Such  is  the  picture  drawn  by  historians  of  peas- 
ant life  in  Christian  countries  in  Europe,  just  before  the  rise 
of  modern  Sunday-schools.1 

The  rural  masses  formed  about  two-thirds  of  the  population 
of  England  in  the  eighteenth  century.  Their  intelligence  was 
not  developed  by  their  occupations;  it  was  not  easy  to  find 
a  poor  man  who  could  read.  Even  the  clergymen  were  poorly 
paid,  unlettered,  and  seldom  taught  more  than  a  catechism  to 
the  children.  Ignorance  and  vice  abounded  among  the  lower 
orders  in  cities  and  towns,  and  the  Bible  was  a  neglected  book. 
Hannah  More  says  that  in  Cheddar,  near  the  cathedral  city 
of  Wells,  she  found  wealthy  farmers  hard,  brutal,  and  igno- 
rant, and  saw  only  one  Bible  in  all  the  parish — and  that  was 
used  to  prop  a  flower  pot.2 

The  better  classes  sometimes  patronized  religion  by  attend- 
ing cathedrals  and  churches  in  the  towns.  Lord  Manon  says, 
"Throughout  England,  the  education  of  the  laboring  class 
was  most  grievously  neglected,  the  supineness  of  the  clergy 
of  that  age  being  manifest  on  this  point  as  on  every  other." 

The  reader  will  notice  that  these  pictures  are  not  drawn  by 
bilious  clergymen,  nor  by  pious  Sunday-school  or  theological 
writers — they  are  given  by  unbiased  historians. 

Out  of  this  social  condition — Christianity  dying  of  respecta- 
bility on  the  one  hand  and  confronted  by  a  seething  mass  of 
ignorance  and  nameless  vices  on  the  other — came  the  modern 
Sunday-school  movement. 

Robert  Raikes. — The  wretched  condition  of  the  working 
classes  and  of  their  children  aroused  the  sympathy  of  Robert 
Raikes,    a   printer   and    publisher   of   Gloucester,    England. 

1  On  condition  of  wage-owners  in  England,  1830-1840,  see  G.  M.  Trevelyan,  Life  of 
John  Bright,  p.  58,  ff . 

2  William  Roberts,  Memoirs  of  the  Life  and  Correspondence  of  Hannah  More,  Two 
Volumes,  New  York,  1834. 


14  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

Robert  Raikes  (1736-1811)  inherited  the  trade  of  printer  from 
his  father,  and  began  the  modern  Sunday-school  movement  in 
1780,  in  Gloucester.  His  early  biographers  were  fond  of  por- 
traying his  eccentricities.  He  was  described  by  them  as 
pompous,  "a  buck,"  a  dandy,  a  faddist,  and  "Bobby  Wild 
Goose."  J.  Henry  Harris,  his  latest  biographer,  has  given  a 
more  accurate  and  faithful  portrait  of  Raikes,  as  a  broad- 
minded,  far-seeing,  philanthropic  Christian,  far  in  advance 
of  his  age.  He  had  eyes  trained  to  see,  and  a  generous  heart 
to  sympathize  with  the  suffering  poor. 

His  first  efforts  were  to  secure  a  reform  in  the  conditions  of 
jails  and  prisons,  rendering  the  life  of  a  prisoner  at  least 
endurable.  Failing  in  this  enterprise,  he  began  his  new  ex- 
periment of  the  modern  Sunday-school,  which  swiftly  gained 
a  place  among  the  most  important  of  modern  religious  insti- 
tutions. His  mind  was  turned  to  this  work  by  seeing  from 
his  window  the  neglected  and  ragged  children  playing,  quar- 
reling, cursing,  and  fighting,  and  hearing  them  use  language 
too  coarse  to  repeat. 

One  of  the  chief  industries  of  Gloucester  at  that  time  was 
pin-making,  at  which  the  children  worked  as  well  as  the 
parents.  Seeing  this  sad  waste  of  child  life,  Raikes  began  to 
ask  himself  why  he  should  not  begin  reform  with  the  children. 
"Is  vice  preventable?  If  so,  it  is  better  to  prevent  crime 
than  to  punish  it.  Can  these  ignorant  masses  be  lifted  out 
of  this  ragged,  wretched,  vicious  state?"  Thus  Raikes  dis- 
covered a  great  field  for  "botanizing  in  human  nature,"  and 
"planting  seed  plots,"  to  grow  something  worthy  and  respect- 
able out  of  this  seething  "slum  of  moral  filth." 

He  knew  the  children  and  their  homes  and  their  habits. 
It  was  useless  to  appeal  to  the  parents;  so  he  began  directly 
with  the  children,  in  the  belief  that  ignorance  is  the  first 
cause  of  idleness  and  vice.  He  held  that  betterment  could 
come  to  these  children — these  pin-makers  and  their  homes 
through  religious  instruction  alone. 

His  first  school  was  in  Sooty  Alley,  in  1780.  The  scholars 
were  from  the  lowest  strata  of  society.  Some  were  from 
sweeps'  quarters  and  the  "Island,"  places  of  the  worst  repute. 
Some  were  so  unwilling  to  come  that  he  marched  them  to  the 
school  with  clogs  and  logs  of  wood  tied  to  their  feet  and  legs, 


ORIGIN  OF  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  15 

just  as  cattle  were  hobbled  when  grazing  on  the  town  com- 
mons in  that  day. 

He  rented  a  kitchen  of  Mrs.  Meredith  and  paid  her  for  it, 
and  also  for  acting  as  mistress  to  these  wretched  children. 
She  found  the  boys  bad  and  the  girls  worse,  and  gave  up  her 
job  in  despair.  The  children  were  transferred  to  Mrs.  Chritch- 
ley's  house  in  Southgate  Street,  under  another  mistress.  This 
building  faced  St.  Mary  de  Crypt  Church,  and  Raikes*  house 
was  also  opposite.  The  children  were  required  to  come  with 
clean  hands  and  faces,  hair  combed,  and  with  such  clothing 
as  they  had,  Raikes  sometimes  providing  shoes  and  better 
clothes.  Discipline  was  maintained,  the  boys  being  "  strapped 
and  caned"  by  Raikes  himself.  The  girls  were  subdued  in 
other  ways.  School  was  from  ten  to  twelve  o'clock  in  the 
morning.  On  Sundays  the  scholars  returned  at  one,  and  after 
a  lesson  were  taken  to  church.  After  church  service  they  were 
taught  the  catechism,  and  sent  home  about  five  o'clock, 
charged  not  to  play  in  the  streets.  Good  behavior  was  re- 
warded by  Bibles,  Testaments,  books,  games,  shoes,  and 
clothing.  The  mistress  was  paid  a  shilling  a  day,  which 
sometimes  included  the  rent  of  the  kitchen. 

The  teaching  was  not  all  done  by  the  mistress.  In  the  boys' 
classes  (usually  five  in  the  class)  the  advanced  pupils  acted  as 
"  monitors"  or  teachers  to  the  younger  ones.  So  the  volun- 
tary principle  was  a  feature  of  Raikes'  schools.  The  girls 
were  in  classes  in  a  separate  room.  They  came,  sometimes, 
with  white  tippets  on  their  shoulders,  and  white  caps  on  their 
heads,  and  they  had  " monitors"  as  special  instructors. 
This  mutual  or  monitorial  system  was  applied  by  Raikes  a 
decade  before  Andrew  Bell  or  Joseph  Lancaster  proposed  a 
similar  system  in  day-schools. 

Some  writers  on  the  early  history  of  the  Sunday-school 
movement  have  held  that  the  credit  of  starting  it  should  be 
divided  with  clergymen,  but  Harris  has  quite  clearly  shown 
that  the  vicar  of  St.  Mary's  did  not  take  any  personal  inter- 
est in  the  schools,  and  Raikes  himself  declares  that  it  was  six 
years  before  the  clergymen  gave  him  any  assistance.  (Ap- 
pendix, p.  439.) 

The  Rev.  Thomas  Stock,  a  rector  in  Gloucester  and  a 
relative  of  Raikes  by  marriage,  had  an  entirely  different  view 


16  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

in  respect  to  these  schools.  He  consented  to  examine  the 
progress  made  in  Raikes'  schools  and  to  aid  in  discipline  and 
decorum.  He  is  also  reputed  to  have  started  and  superin- 
tended schools,  but  there  is  no  evidence  to  show  that  he,  in 
any  measure,  entered  into  the  study  of  neglected  child  life, 
or  contemplated  making  the  modern  Sunday-school  a  part  of 
the  organic  work  of  the  Church.  The  schools  he  had  were 
parochial  and  for  education  in  general.  Raikes'  movement 
aimed  at  popular  religious  education  for  the  poor,  the  main 
textbook  being  the  Bible.  The  Church  had  neglected  the 
masses,  and  the  masses  had  retaliated  by  neglecting  the 
Church.  Raikes  faced  this  problem,  and  successfully  made 
the  experiment  of  redeeming  the  worst  classes  and  cleaning 
up  the  slum  life  of  that  city,  revealing  first  principles  in  popu- 
lar religious  education  on  the  voluntary  principle.  Out  of 
it  grew  a  plan  for  national  popular  education. 

Raikes'  plan  seems  so  simple  to  us  now  that  many  wonder 
why  it  was  not  begun  long  before.  It  must  not  be  forgotten, 
however,  that  up  to  1779  English  law  allowed  no  person  to 
keep  public  or  private  school,  or  to  act  as  tutor,  who  did  not 
subscribe  and  conform  to  the  Church  of  England.  It  was  not 
until  1779  that  the  "Enabling  Act"  took  full  effect,  which 
permitted  dissenters  to  teach  without  such  subscription. 

Raikes  evolved  out  of  his  studies  and  experiments  these 
maxims : 

1.  Vice  in  the  child  is  an  imitation  of  familiar  sights  and 

sounds. 

2.  There  is  a  time  in  the  child's  life  when  it  is  innocent* 

Then  the  faculties  are  active  and  receptive. 

3.  Good  seeds  cannot  be  planted  too  early. 

4.  The  child  takes  pleasure  in  being  good  when  goodness  is 

made  attractive. 

5.  The  Sunday-school  may  be  the  instrument  under  God  of 

awakening  spiritual  life  in  the  poorest  children  and, 
supplemented  by  day  classes,  can  form  the  basis  of 
national  education. 

When  lie  was  satisfied  that  his  scheme  had  passed  the  ex- 
perimental stage,  be  made  it  public.  His  plan  was  explained 
to   some   distinguished    guests — William    Wilberforce,   John 


ORIGIN  OF  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  17 

Wesley,  and  others,  whom  he  took  to  his  schools  to  listen  to 
the  children  repeat  prayers,  sing  hymns,  and  answer  Bible 
questions.  It  is  said  they  were  astonished  at  the  progress  he 
had  made  with  these  ragged,  ignorant  children.  A  brief 
notice  of  his  experiment  was  published  in  his  Gloucester  Jour- 
nal, November  3,  1783.  (Appendix,  p.  437.)  It  was  widely 
copied.  The  Gentleman's  Magazine,  issued  in  London  by 
John  Nichols,  fully  described  the  schools,  inserting  the  letter 
of  Raikes  to  Col.  Townley  dated  November  25,  1783.  In 
these  ways  the  knowledge  of  the  movement  became  widely 
known  in  Great  Britain. 

The  primary  aim  of  Raikes  was  to  reach  the  poor  and  neg- 
lected children;  hence  the  plan  commended  itself  to  many 
philanthropic  and  thoughtful  persons,  by  whom  it  was  warmly 
advocated. 

The  Voluntary  Principle. — Contrary  to  the  representations 
of  the  early  biographers  of  Raikes  (Lloyd,  Power,  Gregory, 
Pray,  and  others),  and  contrary  to  the  popular  notion,  it  has 
been  clearly  shown  by  Raikes'  latest  biographers  that  Raikes 
applied  the  voluntary  principle  from  the  first.  (Appendix 
p.  438.)  "The  system,"  says  Harris,  "was  founded  on  and 
supported  by  voluntary  effort.  Paid  mistresses  and  masters 
were  at  first  necessary,  but  they  gradually  disappeared.  The 
monitors  over  classes  were  unpaid  and  voluntary  from  the 
beginning  of  his  schools."  The  paid  mistress  or  master  of 
Raikes'  schools  was  a  superintendent.  The  strictly  class 
teachers  were  unpaid,  and  voluntary  examiners  or  supervisors, 
appointed  or  selected  by  Raikes,  visited  the  schools  to  see 
that  the  instruction  was  given  according  to  his  wishes  and 
to  those  of  the  supporters  of  the  enterprise. 

Experience  soon  proved  that  even  the  paid  mistress  and 
master  made  the  system  expensive  and  tended  to  limit  its 
usefulness.  If  monitors,  visitors,  and  others  could  be  found 
to  give  their  time,  why  might  not  persons  competent  for 
oversight  as  well,  and  thus  all  the  instruction  be  secured 
without  pay?  The  most  important  step  in  the  founding  of 
the  system,  therefore,  was  the  replacing  of  the  paid  mistress 
or  the  paid  master  by  voluntary  masters,  superintendents, 
and  teachers.  Raikes  had  used  voluntary  class  teachers  from 
the  first,  but  he  had  paid  the  mistress  partly  for  rent  and 


18  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

partly  for  supervision.  "The  paid  teacher,  at  first,"  says 
Harris,  "was  made  responsible  for  the  good  behaviour, 
cleanliness,  and  ability  of  the  children  to  read  and  repeat 
their  lessons;  then  the  work  of  the  Sunday-school  as  a  relig- 
ious agency  passed  into  other  hands,  whose  work  was  purely 
voluntary."1  This  feature  of  wholly  voluntary  instruction 
and  management  adapted  the  Sunday-school  to  the  needs  of 
poor  communities  and  parishes,  and  aided  in  its  remarkable 
spread  throughout  Great  Britain  and  America. 

Raikes*  Instruction. — The  Bible  was  the  center  of  Raikes' 
instruction.  There  was  no  public-school  system  and  the 
masses  were  unlearned.  Therefore  he  found  it  necessary  to 
teach  many  persons  to  read  in  order  to  give  them  instruction 
in  the  Bible.  One  of  his  earlier  books  was  called  The  Sunday 
Scholar's  Companion.  It  was  a  little  manual,  compiled,  it  is 
said,  by  the  Rev.  Richard  Raikes,  and  widely  used  in  the 
schools  formed  by  Raikes  and  others.  It  was  surely  in  use 
in  1783,  though  the  earliest  edition  now  known  is  that  of 
1794.  It  passed  through  many  editions  and  was  issued  up 
to  1824.  Among  other  books  used  at  this  period  were  A 
Copious  School  Book  and  A  Comprehensive  Sentimental  Book — 
the  last  containing  the  alphabet,  spelling,  moral  and  religious 
lessons,  and  stories  and  prayers  adapted  to  "the  growing 
powers  of  children." 

Parochial  schools  used  catechisms,  creeds,  and  confessions, 
but  Raikes  and  his  followers  used  them  only  as  secondary 
works,  their  chief  textbook  of  instruction  being  the  Bible. 
Herein  was  a  radical  difference  between  most  of  the  early 
sporadic  schools,  previous  to  Raikes,  and  the  modern  Sunday- 
school  movement  which  he  started.2  (Appendix,  pp.  439  and 
440.)  It  was  a  practical  revolution  in  the  system  of  instruc- 
tion and  gave  much  popularity  to  the  plan.  Not  only  did 
Raikes  make  a  revolution  by  basing  instruction  upon  the 
Bible,  but  he  also  made  a  marked  change  in  the  methods  of 
instruction.  Aside  from  applying  the  voluntary  principle  in 
teaching,  he  also  applied  the  illustrative  method.  He  gives 
a  good  instance  of  this  himself. 

1  J.  Henry  Harris,  The  Story  of  the  Sunday-School,  p.  50. 

:  A  Comvrtht  nsivc  View  of  Sunday-Schools  was  prepared  by  Jonas  Han  way  in  1786. 
h  ropy  of  which  d  in  the  nOMfflninn  of  W.  II.  Groser  of  London.  See  Groser's  A  Hundred 
FmT*'    Work  for  the  Children. 


ORIGIN  OF  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  19 

"I  was,"  he  says,  " showing  my  scholars,  a  little  time  ago, 
how  possible  it  is  for  one  invisible  power  to  exist  in  bodies 
which  shall  act  upon  other  bodies  without  our  being  able  to 
perceive  in  what  manner  they  act.  This  I  proved  to  them  by 
the  powers  of  the  magnet.  They  see  the  magnet  draw  the 
needle  without  touching  it.  Thus,  I  tell  them,  I  wish  to  draw 
them  to  the  paths  of  duty,  and  thus  lead  them  to  heaven  and 
happiness;  and  as  they  saw  one  needle,  when  it  touched  the 
magnet,  then  capable  of  drawing  another  needle,  thus  when 
they  became  good  they  would  be  made  the  instruments  in  the 
hands  of  God,  very  probably,  of  making  other  boys  good." 
Thus  it  is  clear  that  Raikes  understood  from  the  first  the 
illustrative  method  of  instruction  and  intelligently  applied 
it  in  his  earliest  schools. 

Besides  the  books  prepared  by  the  Rev.  Richard  Raikes, 
and  the  two  mentioned  above  which  were  prepared  by  Jonas 
Hanway,  a  philanthropist  and  noted  traveler,  the  earlier 
schools  had  stories  for  the  instruction  and  entertainment  of 
children  translated  from  the  French  and  issued  in  1787. 
Mrs.  Trimmer  compiled  a  manual  for  the  use  of  Sunday 
scholars,  and  Hannah  More  issued  a  religious  manual,  entitled 
The  Mendig  School  Question  Book.  But  the  chief  manual, 
aside  from  the  Bible,  appears  to  have  been  The  Scholar's  Com- 
panion. The  extant  edition,  1794,  has  120  pages  divided 
into  four  parts.  Part  I  has  the  alphabet  and  twenty-five 
simple  lessons.     The  sentences  are  biblical,  thus: 

God  is  One.  The  Lord  is  good  to  all. 

God  is  love.  The  Lord  of  Hosts  is  His  name. 

The  God  of  the  whole  earth,  etc. 

The  other  three  parts  of  the  book  consist,  chiefly,  of  pass- 
ages from  the  Old  and  New  Testaments,  stating  man's  duty 
to  God  and  to  his  neighbor.  There  is  some  history — the 
Creation,  and  the  Fall  and  Redemption,  and  the  observance 
of  the  Sabbath.  The  four  parts  are  intended  to  be  graded 
to  suit  the  advance  of  pupils  in  knowledge. 

Opposition  to  the  Sunday-School. — In  Great  Britain  there 
was  a  decided  and,  in  some  cases,  bitter  opposition  to 
the  Sunday-school  itself.  In  America  it  was  chiefly  against 
the  organized  and  Union  type  of  the  movement,  as  we  shall 


20  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

presently  see.  In  England  the  objection  to  Sunday-schools 
was  that  they  were  dangerous,  demoralizing,  bad  institu- 
tions, and  agents  of  the  devil. 

Hannah  More  and  her  sisters,  who  fostered  schools  among 
the  poor,  were  condemned  and  their  teachers  persecuted  by 
curates  of  the  church,  until  she  appealed  to  the  bishop,  gain- 
ing no  redress  beyond  a  diplomatic  letter.  Miss  More  says, 
"The  aim  of  the  curates  was  not  merely  to  ruin  the  teachers 
employed,  but  to  strike  at  the  principles  of  all  my  schools 
and  to  stigmatize  them  as  seminaries  of  fanaticism,  vice  and 
sedition."1  They  not  only  arrested  her  teachers,  but  assailed 
her  personal  character,  charging  her  with  hiring  men  to 
assassinate  one  of  the  clergymen,  fomenting  sedition,  and 
even  countenancing  an  attack  on  the  king's  life,  and,  finally, 
that  she  was  in  the  pay  of  Mr.  Pitt,  and  a  prime  instigator  of 
French  plots!  The  Bishop  of  Rochester  denounced  Sunday- 
schools  and  urged  his  clergy  not  to  support  them.  The 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury  received  such  attacks  upon  the 
new  movement  that  he  called  the  bishops  together  to  decide 
what  could  be  done  to  stop  it.  They  believed  it  would  injure 
the  Church  and  would  build  up  conventicles  and  dissenting 
chapels.     (Appendix,  p.  440.) 

Some  of  the  English  nobility  urged  that  if  the  vulgar  were 
educated  they  would  become  supercilious,  make  poor  servants, 
and  want  higher  wages,  and  the  higher  classes  would  be  em- 
barrassed, if  not  obliterated.  The  worldly  and  tippling 
classes  opposed  the  Sunday-school  on  the  ground  that  it 
would  end  their  amusements — games,  cock-fighting,  bull- 
baiting,  wakes,  revels,  and  tippling — and  the  publicans  said 
it  would  destroy  ale-houses  and  taverns.  They  tried  to 
prejudice  the  people  by  telling  them  that  Sunday-schools 
would  take  away  their  liberties  and  deprive  them  of  all  the 
enjoyments  of  life. 

Advocates  for  It. — The  sharp  attack  of  foes  served  one 
good  purpose;  that  of  rallying  friends  to  the  support  of  the 
Sunday-school.  It  advertised  the  new  movement,  calling 
attention  to  its  necessity  and  efficiency,  and  made  the  people 
think  of  the  splendid  opportunity  it  offered  for  the  better- 
ment of  social  conditions — physically  and  morally.     While 

1  William  Roberts,  Memoirs  of  Hannah  More,  Vol.  II,  p.  63,  ff. 


ORIGIN  OF  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  21 

this  movement  began  in  the  church,  it  was  by  a  layman,  and 
was  individual  rather  than  ecclesiastical.  It  soon  found 
some  strong  advocates  among  dissenters  and  churchmen 
alike.  Rowland  Hill  answered,  "In  this  grand  design,  we 
drop  all  names  but  Christ,  and  direct  the  children  not  to  be 
dissenters  from  the  Church,  but  dissenters  from  sin."  John 
Newton,  William  Cowper  the  poet,  Thomas  Scott,  John 
Howard  the  philanthropist,  John  and  Charles  Wesley,  Bishop 
Porteus  of  Chester — later  of  London,  the  Bishops  of  Norwich, 
Salisbury,  Llandaff,  and  the  Earl  of  Salisbury,  rallied  to  its 
defence  and  became  hearty  supporters.  Even  some  ladies  of 
fashion  volunteered  to  become  teachers.  It  progressed  so 
rapidly  that  the  queen  herself  gave  it  royal  favor  by  sending 
for  Robert  Raikes  and  hearing  the  story  of  his  work  from  his 
own  lips.1 

Organized  Sunday-School  Societies. — "Teach  all  the  world 
the  Bible;  ask  all  the  world  to  help  us  in  the  mighty 
task!"  This  was  the  inspiring  word  that  gave  spiritual 
power  to  the  founders  of  organized  Sunday-school  societies. 
Filled  by  the  Holy  Spirit  with  a  passion  for  teaching  the 
Gospel  of  Christ,  they  conquered  impossibilities. 

The  Sunday-School  Society  of  1785. — William  Fox,  a 
London  merchant,  astonished  a  monthly  meeting  of  his 
brethren  by  proposing  a  society  to  teach  all  the  children  of 
the  poor  to  read  the  Bible.  Amazed  by  the  magnitude  of 
the  proposition,  deemed  chimerical,  they  said,  "We  presume 
you  would  confine  the  plan  to  our  Baptist  denomination?" 
But  Fox  replied,  "No,  every  person  in  the  world  should  be 
able  to  read  the  Bible  and  we  must  call  on  all  the  world  to 
help  us." 

Later  Fox  heard  of  the  movement  of  Raikes,  but  claims 
that  long  before  1780  he  had  conceived  the  plan  of  universal 
education  by  a  different  mode.  A  correspondence  with 
Raikes,  however,  changed  his  plan  into  that  of  a  society  for 
promoting  the  formation  of  Sunday-schools.  Persons  of 
different  denominations,  led  by  Fox,  Henry  Thornton,  Jonas 
Hanway,  Thomas  Raikes,  and  others,  formed  the  Sunday- 
School  Society,  in  London,  September  7,  1785.  The  full 
name  at  first  was  "The  Society  for  the  Support  and  Encour* 

1  J.  Henry  Harris,  Robert  Raikes:    The  Man  and  His  Work,  p.  128. 


22  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

agement  of  Sunday-Schools  in  the  Different  Counties  of 
England."  As  the  work  extended  to  Wales,  Ireland  and  the 
British  colonies,  the  name  was  changed  to  "The  Society  for 
the  Support  and  Encouragement  of  Sunday-Schools  through- 
out the  British  Dominions."  It  was  popularly  known  by 
the  shorter  title  of  "The  Sunday-School  Society." 

The  novelty  of  the  organization  and  the  prominence  of  its 
founders  brought  it  at  once  into  popular  favor,  so  that  for 
some  years  it  carried  on  a  large  work  in  Sunday-school  ex- 
tension. The  method  of  the  society  was  to  lease  rooms  or 
buildings  in  villages  or  localities  where  the  poor  needed  in- 
struction, hire  teachers,  and  maintain  schools  under  rules 
adopted  by  the  society,  provide  Bibles,  Testaments,  and 
other  needed  books  gratuitously  for  the  pupils,  and  have  each 
school  inspected  by  competent  visitors;  making  all  proceed- 
ings subject  to  the  approval  of  a  general  committee  com- 
posed of  twenty-four  persons,  one-half  of  whom  were  from 
the  Church  of  England,  and  the  other  half  from  dissenting 
denominations.  In  twenty-seven  years  it  formed  or  aided 
3,730  Sunday-schools,  having  a  membership  of.  303,981; 
gave  away  8,001  Bibles,  70,537  Testaments,  and  329,695 
spelling  and  reading  books.  It  discontinued  paid  teachers 
in  1810,  when  it  had  expended  4,383  pounds,  15  shillings, 
4  pence. 

But  it  declined  to  change  its  methods,  and  its  work  gradu- 
ally diminished.  The  founding  of  other  societies  and  schools 
with  voluntary  teachers,  and  its  refusal  to  sell  rather  than 
give  its  literature  to  schools,  caused  the  income  to  decrease 
and  rapidly  exhausted  its  funds,  until  the  society,  after  long 
struggles,  voluntarily  dissolved. 

The  London  Sunday-School  Union. — Under  Raikes  and  the 
Sunday-School  Society  of  1785,  the  Sunday-school  move- 
ment had  been  chiefly  a  philanthropic  one.  Now  it  began  to 
emerge  into  a  wider  movement  for  religious  education.  In 
one  school  an  earnest  young  worker,  William  Brodie  Gurney, 
was  astonished  at  the  "improvements"  be  observed  in  another 
school.  He  learned  that  still  other  schools  were  better  than 
either  of  these  two,  and  he  asked;  "Why  not  get  Sunday- 
school  teachers  together  and  improve  the  method  of  instruc- 
tion, and  stimulate  others  to  open  new  schools  in  London?" 


ENGLISH   FOUNDERS 


William  Fox. 


W.  Brodie  Gurney. 


Robert  Raikes. 


William  Groser. 


W.  F.  Llovd. 


ORIGIN  OF  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  23 

Mr.  Gurney  was  scarcely  twenty-five  years  old  and  his  two 
friends  hardly  eighteen.  They  called  a  meeting  in  Surrey 
Chapel,  where  the  famous  Rowland  Hill  was  minister,  and 
formed  the  London  Sunday-School  Union,  July  13,  1803. 
Paid  teachers  had  been  largely  supplanted  by  voluntary  ones, 
but  instruction  of  the  poorer  classes  was  still  the  special  pur- 
pose of  the  movement.  The  introduction  of  it  into  the 
churches  was  very  limited  and  came  only  after  weary  wait- 
ing. 

The  chief  purpose  of  the  London  Union  was  to  improve 
Sunday-schools  and  thus  promote  some  system  in  religious 
education.  The  Union  was  without  a  local  habitation  and 
did  not  hold  an  annual  public  meeting  for  nine  years.  Then 
they  had  a  "  breakfast''  in  the  New  London  Tavern  in  May, 
1812.1  Not  until  fifteen  years  after  its  formation  did  it 
venture  to  rent  part  of  a  bookseller's  shopwindow  (44  New- 
gate Street)  where  Sunday-school  supplies  could  be  seen  and 
purchased.  Previous  to  this  the  Union  met  in  schoolrooms 
or,  more  frequently,  at  the  houses  of  the  officers.  As  one  of 
its  chroniclers  said,  it  was  in  a  " peripatetic  state,"  and  its 
growth  was  slow.2  In  1855  it  erected  a  fine  memorial  build- 
ing at  56  Old  Bailey,  London.  About  1805  it  reported  four 
publications — a  Plan  for  Forming  Sunday-Schools,  a  Guide  to 
Teachers,  a  Catechism  in  Verse,  and  a  Reading  Primer  in  two 
parts — all  apparently  pamphlets.  That  this  was  a  day  of 
small  things  was  more  apparent,  however,  than  real.  The 
Union  kept  faithfully  in  view  its  chief  objects;  namely,  "to 
stimulate  and  encourage  the  education  and  religious  instruc- 
tion of  the  young;"  "to  improve  the  methods  of  instruction;" 
"to  promote  the  opening  of  new  schools;"  and  "to  furnish 
literature  suited  for  Sunday-schools  at  a  cheap  ,rate." 

W.  F.  Lloyd,  a  talented  young  man  who  had  achieved  suc- 
cess in  Sunday-school  work,  became  secretary  of  the  Union 
in  1811.  Under  his  leadership  the  Union  came  into  greater 
prominence  and  wider  usefulness.  He  became  personally 
responsible  for  the  issue  of  The  Repository  or  Teachers'  Maga- 
zine, a  periodical  which  was  edited  with  such  ability  and 
wisdom  as  to  attain  a  high  rank  with  educators.     The  sys- 

1  W.  H.  Watson,  History  of  the  Sunday-School  Union. 

2  W.  H.  Groser,  A  Hundred  Years'  Work  for  the  Children. 


24  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

terns  of  study  and  the  literature  of  the  London  Union  bore  the 
impress  of  his  judicious  mind  for  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  century. 
In  harmony  with  its  union  or  interdenominational  character, 
publications  were  issued  from  time  to  time,  chiefly  of  an  ele- 
mentary grade,  for  use  in  its  affiliated  schools.  In  London 
and  throughout  England,  local  unions  were  formed  auxiliary 
to  the  parent  Union,  each  of  them  being  represented  by  a 
secretary  and  three  members  who,  with  twenty  other  members 
chosen  on  the  committee  at  an  annual  meeting,  directed  the 
affairs  of  the  London  Sunday-School  Union.  Supplies  were 
furnished  at  special  prices  to  members  of  the  Union,  and 
grants  of  publications  were  made  when  its  funds  warranted. 
The  formation  of  Sunday  and  adult  schools  was  promoted, 
and  also  some  aid  given  in  housing  and  equipping  them. 
The  London  Union  also  rendered  important  service  in  issuing 
suggestive  plans  for  better  Sunday-school  rooms  and,  later, 
in  loaning  money,  or  granting  aid  toward  making  these  im- 
provements. 

As  early  as  1810-15  its  leaders  discussed  the  adoption  of 
theories  of  various  educators,  such  as  the  mutual  or  ."monito- 
rial" system  of  Joseph  Lancaster  and  Andrew  Bell.  But 
progress  in  this  direction  was  blocked  by  a  system  of  secular 
education  proposed  by  Mr.  Brougham,  who  inclined  toward 
the  views  of  Robert  Owen,  de  Fellenberg,  and  others,  and 
who  placed  small  value  upon  Sunday-schools.  In  fact,  he 
spoke  of  them  in  depreciating  terms.  If  his  plan  prevailed, 
he  said,  they  would  be  no  longer  needed.  The  defects  of 
Brougham's  scheme  were  attacked  by  John  Foster  in  his 
famous  essay  on  The  Evils  of  Popular  Ignorance,  with  such 
vigor  and  success  that  the  plan  failed  to  gain  popular  favor. 
But  the  agitation  over  it  is  said  to  have  put  back  any  public 
effort  to  remove  the  evils  of  popular  ignorance  for  twenty — 
if  not  fifty — years,  and  seriously  affected  the  progress  of 
Sunday-schools. 

The  monitorial  system  of  Joseph  Lancaster  was  more  pop- 
ular and  paved  the  way  for  the  British  and  Foreign  School 
Society  in  1808.  The  somewhat  similar  system  of  Dr.  Bell 
led  to  the  organization  of  the  National  School  Society  in  1811. 
The  latter  limited  religious  instruction  to  the  catechisms  and 
creed  of  the  Church  of  England,  while  the  former  excluded 


ORIGIN  OF  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  25 

all  catechisms  and  creeds,  and  required  that  the  Bible  only 
should  be  the  basis  of  religious  instruction. 

About  a  decade  later,  the  ingenious  Lesson  System  of 
James  Gall  of  Scotland  became  popular  with  the  British 
Sunday-schools,  displacing  the  learning  by  rote,  the  London 
Union  strongly  commending  Gall's  method.  It  was,  how- 
ever, sharply  criticized  for  its  deficiencies  and  partially  sup- 
planted by  the  Training  System  of  David  Stow.  Stow  ex»- 
posed  the  fallacy  of  regarding  instruction  and  education  as 
one  and  the  same.  He  noted  the  value  of  combining  the 
interrogative,  illustrative,  and  elliptical  methods  of  teaching, 
and  applied  his  principle  to  religious  and  moral,  as  well  as  to 
secular,  instruction.  These  systems  had  advocates,  but  each 
of  them  was  soon  supplanted  by  other  methods.  The  moni- 
torial system  of  Lancaster,  which  was  necessarily  crude  since 
it  must  use  untrained  teachers,  fell  into  disuse  in  England  and 
America.  However,  it  had  served  the  purpose  of  improving 
and  extending  the  plan  of  unpaid  or  voluntary  teaching  in 
Sunday-schools. 

The  London  Union,  in  common  with  other  Sunday-school 
societies,  considered  the  adaptation  of  some  features  of  the 
so-called  nature  system,  of  Pestalozzi,  the  verbal  and  self- 
educative  theory  of  Jacotot  and  the  " spontaneity"  idea  of 
Froebel,  culling  some  good  features  from  each  of  these  the- 
ories. During  this  period  their  lists  of  lessons  changed  from 
year  to  year  and  were  largely  empirical  or  experimental. 
Besides  promoting  teacher-training  through  circulating  the 
works  on  principles  of  education  by  Henry  Dunn,  David 
Stow,  Louisa  M.  Davids,  and  J.  G.  Fitch,  the  Union  sus- 
tained training  classes  and  had  a  "  Sunday-School  Union 
College  for  Teachers,"  which  provided  lectures,  and  had  a 
temporary  prosperity.  This  was  followed  by  "  Introduc- 
tory," " Normal,"  and  "Preparation"  classes  for  teachers. 
The  last  proved  more  successful  and  satisfactory  under 
B.  P.  Pask.  Normal  handbooks  were  issued  later,  and 
" Correspondence  Classes"  encouraged,  including  " Greek 
New  Testament  Classes,"  which  became  popular  in  the 
second  decade  of  this  century.  A  Sunday-school  teachers' 
college  was  opened  in  Birmingham  in  1900  by  Dr.  R.  F. 
Horton,  giving  instruction  in  nine  courses  of  study,  includ- 


26  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

ing  Bible  history,  Church  history,  Christian  evidences,  art  of 
teaching,  ethics,  the  English  language,  sociology  and  psy- 
chology. 

Union  Lessons. — About  1841  the  London  Union  issued 
two  series  of  Sunday-school  lessons,  with  notes,  questions 
and  applications,  but  without  the  Bible  text.  One  series  was 
used  in  the  morning  session  of  English  Sunday-schools  and 
the  other  in  the  afternoon  session.  The  helps  were  issued  in 
a  monthly  tract  of  twelve  pages.  They  did  not  provide 
reviews — weekly  or  quarterly — as  the  American  Uniform 
Lessons  of  1826  had  done.  They  assigned  such  large  por- 
tions of  the  Bible  text  for  each  lesson  that  they  were  better 
suited  for  advanced  classes  than  for  the  main  school,  and 
were  not  widely  used  outside  of  England.  Similar  series 
of  lessons  were  continued  with  changes  and  some  improve- 
ments until  the  London  Union  adopted  the  "International 
Series,"  approved  in  America  about  1872.  This  series,  with 
some  changes  to  meet  English  conditions,  was  continued  into 
the  present  century.  The  British  section  of  the  Lesson  Com- 
mittee, appointed  by  the  London  Union,  prepared  a  series  of 
graded  lessons  to  meet  the  demands  of  modern  educators — • 
a  system  differing  from  any  of  those  proposed  in  America 
and  limiting  the  grading  by  departments  rather  than  by 
years.     It  also  issues  numerous  lesson  helps. 

When  the  work  of  the  Sunday-School  Society  of  1785  de- 
clined, the  Union  gradually  took  it  up,  including  a  mission 
for  the  extension  of  Sunday-schools  on  the  Continent  and 
elsewhere  throughout  the  world.  It  was  stimulated  to  do 
this  by  the  zeal  of  Albert  Woodruff,  of  America,  who  sought 
to  introduce  Sunday-schools  into  Germany,  France  and  other 
countries  of  the  Continent.  This  mission  of  the  London 
Union  has  extended  to  India,  China,  and  Japan,  in  co-opera- 
tion with  other  associations  abroad  and  in  America.  It 
prosecutes  this  mission  by  the  employment  of  agents  and 
special  workers  in  the  respective  countries. 

The  International  Bible  Readers'  Association  (affiliated 
with  the  London  Sunday-School  Union)  pledges  its  members 
to  read  a  definite  portion  of  the  Bible  daily.  It  claims  about 
a  million  of  such  readers  in  nearly  one  hundred  different 
countries.     The    London    Union    also    maintains    a    reading 


ORIGIN  OF  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  27 

room  for  teachers  and  a  reference  library  and  preparation 
classes  for  the  training  and  qualifying  of  teachers  in  different 
centers  in  Great  Britain.  The  society  is  chiefly  supported 
by  Independents  or  Congregationalists,  Baptists,  and  Presby- 
terians. Its  affairs  are  under  the  direction  of  a  "Council" 
(formerly  a  General  Committee),  composed  of  persons  selected 
from  these  denominations  by  the  Council  or  by  local  Sunday- 
school  unions.  The  Church  of  England  and  several  Non- 
conformist religious  bodies  in  Great  Britain  have  separate 
Sunday-school  societies  in  their  respective  denominations. 

The  London  Union  has  always  made  a  liberal  use  of  the 
press.  Besides  the  books  heretofore  mentioned,  it  early 
issued  editions  of  Watts'  Divine  and  Moral  Songs,  Ann 
and  Jane  Taylor's  Hymns  for  Infant  Minds,  a  tune  book,  and 
a  juvenile  harmonist,  with  collections  for  the  young.  Of 
periodicals,  it  approved  the  issue  of  Mr.  Lloyd's  Sunday* 
School  Repository  or  Teachers'  Magazine,  first  issued  in  1813 
as  a  quarterly  and,  in  1821,  as  a  monthly,  and  adopted  it  in 
1859.  This,  again,  was  succeeded  by  The  Sunday-School 
Teacher,  and  in  1874  by  The  Sunday-School  Chronicle,  edited 
at  first  by  the  versatile  Benjamin  Clarke,  and  continued 
under  the  judicious  Rev.  Frank  Johnson. 

Of  scholars'  periodicals,  The  Youth's  Magazine  was  issued 
about  1805,  by  Mr.  Gurney,  personally.  From  1810  to  1830 
scholars'  periodicals  were  born  and  perished  young,  in  suffi- 
cient numbers  to  fill  a  good-sized  literary  cemetery. 

In  1832  The  Child's  Own  Book,  a  serial  publication,  was 
begun  at  the  low  price  of  a  half-penny  a  piece  and  continued 
until  1851,  when  it  was  supplanted  by  The  Child's  Own  Maga- 
zine, a  penny  monthly.  The  Bible  Class  Magazine  was  com- 
menced in  1848  and  had  a  useful  career;  it  was  superseded  by 
The  Excelsior  and  then  by  The  Golden  Rule.  Kind  Words 
was  founded  in  1866,  but  in  1880  was  changed  to  Young 
England,  followed  by  Boys  of  Our  Empire  and  Girls  of  Our 
Empire. 

The  London  Union  at  its  centenary  in  1903  reported  in  its 
connection  or  affiliated  with  it  8,584  Sunday-schools,  having 
213,226  teachers  and  2,252,497  scholars.  In  1912  the  Union 
reported  loans  to  aid  in  school  buildings  amounting  to  4,500 
pounds,  and  benevolent  contributions  received  on  personal 


28  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

subscriptions  and  donations,  15,053  pounds,  10  shillings, 
7  pence,  exclusive  of  legacies  and  life  memberships.  It  also 
received  moneys  on  account  of  its  general  work  amounting 
to  6,852  pounds,  2  shillings,  7  pence,  and  on  account  of  various 
benevolent  operations,  such  as  the  Bible  Reading  Associa- 
tion, home  rests,  lectures,  children's  homes,  and  the  like, 
other  sums  which  it  appropriates  to  these  various  objects. 
In  the  second  decade  of  the  twentieth  century  the  London 
Sunday-School  Union  counted  25,655  schools,  258,849  teachers, 
and  2,680,379  pupils  in  the  United  Kingdom,  British  colonies 
and  India.  The  Church  of  England  also  reported  a  total 
membership  in  its  schools  (not  in  the  Union)  of  upward  of 
3,500,000. 

The  Hibernian  Sunday-School  Society  of  Ireland. — The 
Hibernian  Sunday-School  Society  was  formed  in  Dublin 
in  1809,  "to  promote  the  establishment  and  facilitate  the 
conducting  of  Sunday-schools  in  Ireland,"  by  disseminating 
information,  supplying  spelling  books  and  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures at  reduced  prices,  or  by  donation,  and  by  "confining 
religious  instruction  solely  to  the  sacred  Scriptures  or  to 
extracts  therefrom."  The  affairs  of  the  society  were  con- 
ducted by  fifteen  members  residing  in  Dublin.  The  receipts 
and  expenditures  the  first  year  were  upward  of  450  pounds 
sterling.  In  1816  the  name  of  the  society  was  changed  to 
the  "Sunday-School  Society  for  Ireland."  In  the  thirtieth 
year  of  its  history,  1840,  its  receipts,  including  about  625 
pounds  from  sales,  were  3,245  pounds;  over  one-half  of  this 
sum  coming  from  contributors  in  England.  The  total  num- 
ber of  books  and  publications  granted  to  schools  in  the  thirty 
years  was  605,740  Bibles  and  Testaments,  954,632  spellers, 
5,964  Hints  for  Conducting  Sunday-Schools,  and  over  400,000 
class,  roll,  and  minute  books  and  alphabet  cards. 

The  London  Hibernian  Society. — The  above  society  must 
not  be  confounded  with  the  London  Hibernian  Society,  which 
was  formed  in  1806  in  London.  The  Hibernian  Society  of 
London  sustained  three  classes  of  schools;  week-day,  adult, 
and  Sunday-schools.  The  founding  and  sustaining  of  Sunday- 
schools  was  incorporated  into  its  work  some  years  after  its 
formation.  In  its  twentieth  report  (1826)  it  claimed  to  have 
under   its   care   405   Sunday-schools,   with   27,646   scholars. 


ORIGIN  OF  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  29 

This  report  throws  some  light  on  the  conditions  of  the  Irish 
population  in  that  period:  " Immense  numbers  of  the  Irish 
spend  their  Sabbaths  at  feasts  or  fairs,  in  fighting,  wrestling, 
drinking,  and  other  abominable  practices,  in  which  they 
mutually  corrupt  and  are  corrupted.  By  collecting  the 
rising  generation  into  Sunday-schools,  they  are  not  only 
restrained  from  such  deteriorating  practices,  but  are  taught 
to  read  the  Word  of  God,  and  are  habituated  from  early 
years  to  keep  holy  this  day."1 

Neither  of  the  foregoing  societies  should  be  confounded 
with  the  later  Sabbath-School  Society  for  Ireland,  which  has 
for  its  object  to  "  promote  and  encourage  the  work  of  Sabbath- 
school  teaching,  especially  in  connection  with  the  Presby- 
terian Church. "  This  society  was  founded  in  1862  in  Belfast. 
By  its  fiftieth  report  (1912)  there  were  under  its  care  1,037 
schools,  with  9,118  teachers  and  81,928  scholars  in  "  average 
attendance."  Its  receipts  and  expenditures  for  that  year 
were  upward  of  10,000  pounds,  chiefly  from  sales  of  publica- 
tions. Its  benevolent  receipts  amounted  to  about  675 
pounds. 

Church  of  England  Sunday-School  Institute. — The  Church 
of  England  Sunday-School  Institute  was  formed  in  1843. 
It's  object  is  "the  extension  and  improvement  of  Church  of 
England  Sunday-schools."  Its  work  is  directed  by  a  com- 
mittee of  about  fifty  persons,  half  of  whom  are  clergymen 
and  the  other  half  laymen.  It  has  about  four  hundred 
branch  or  local  associations,  holds  institutes,  issues  publica- 
tions, has  teacher-training  classes,  examinations,  and  lectures. 
It  provides  a  series  of  lessons  and  manuals  on  organization 
and  teaching,  school  material  and  magazines,  and  has  branches 
for  the  sale  of  the  same.  It  offers  to  provide  competent  "depu- 
tations" to  attend  meetings  of  teachers,  give  lectures  and 
training  lessons,  and  visit  Sunday-schools  to  suggest  plans  for 
their  improvement. 

In  1850  it  issued  for  its  schools  a  double  series  of  lessons, 
with  notes.  Its  serial  lessons  on  "The  Life  of  our  Lord,"  by 
Eugene  Stock  (1870  on)  were  widely  used  in  church  Sunday- 
schools  in  England  and  were  received  with  favor  in  other 
English  schools  and  in  America.     Its  lessons  usually  follow 

1  Teachers1  Magazine,  London,  182G,  p.  216. 


30  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

the  church  year.  For  a  brief  time  it  attempted  to  use  the 
"International  Lessons,"  but  they  did  not  prove  acceptable 
to  its  schools  and  were  abandoned.  It  provided  a  five  years' 
course  of  lessons,  based  on  the  Bible  and  Prayer  Book,  and 
conforming  to  the  church  year.  Since  its  formation,  the 
Institute  claims  to  have  issued  no  less  than  one  hundred  and 
ten  different  sets  of  lessons.  Its  benevolent  receipts  in  its 
Jubilee  Year  (1893)  were  2,213  pounds  and  its  receipts  from 
sales  and  publications  10,863  pounds.  It  has  held  teacher- 
training  courses  of  lectures  and  "training  weeks"  for  teachers 
and  intending  teachers  of  both  sexes,  in  the  dioceses  of  Eng- 
land. Its  Sunday-schools  and  Bible  classes  have  a  total  mem- 
bership of  about  3,500,000.  More  than  1,000  persons  have 
annually  been  enrolled  for  examinations  as  teachers.  The 
confirmations  of  scholars  from  its  schools  have  yearly  exceeded 
a  quarter  of  a  million.  Its  yearly  receipts  from  sales  of  pub- 
lications have  slightly  decreased  in  the  last  twenty  years. 

The  Wesleyan  Sunday-School  Union. — This  organization 
was  formed  in  England  in  1875.  It  was  merged  into  the 
Wesleyan  Methodist  Sunday-School  Department  about  1908. 
This  is  controlled  by  a  "Council"  of  forty-five  ministers  and 
an  equal  number  of  laymen,  which  works  through  a  smaller 
committee.  The  committee  employs  a  competent  person 
who  gives  special  study  to  the  improvement  of  its  Sunday- 
schools.  Grants  are  made  to  village  schools  of  less  than  fifty 
scholars;  other  schools  are  aided  in  equipment  and  by  examina- 
tion of  teachers'  training  classes,  and  conventions  are  held  at 
various  centers.  This  committee  watches  the  results  closely, 
and  with  some  anxiety.  In  1912  it  reported:  Wesleyan  schools 
7,565;  officers  and  teachers,  130,516;  scholars,  964,309;  with 
members  of  Bible  classes  and  brotherhoods,  122,836.  The 
report  adds:  "It  is  discouraging  to  have,  for  six  years  in  suc- 
cession, to  report  a  decrease  in  the  number  of  our  scholars  of 
12,443.  It  is  high  time  that  we  most  earnestly  face  the  ques- 
tion, 'Why?'  "  The  committee,  in  brief,  ascribes  the  decrease 
partly  to  lack  of  interest,  want  of  careful  oversight  and  of  sys- 
tematic effort,  and  to  the  weakening  of  parental  authority, 
the  disregard  of  the  Lord's  day,  and  recent  developments  of 
Christian  work.  The  graded  plan  was  said  to  be  gaining  recog- 
nition.    The  report  relates  to  the  Wesleyan  Methodist  schools 


ORIGIN  OF  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  31 

in  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  but  not  to  those  in  the  British 
colonies  of  America,  Australia,  Africa  and  Asia. 

Sabbath-Schools  in  Scotland. — Sabbath-schools  in  Scotland 
are  traced  back  to  1560,  when  part  of  the  Lord's  day  was  set 
apart  for  " catechising  the  young  and  ignorant."  The  churches 
laid  the  oversight  of  this  work  upon  the  ministry.  The 
modern  lay  Sabbath-school  movement  followed.  Thus  the 
Edinburgh  Gratis  Sabbath-School  Society  was  formed  in 
October,  1796,  with  the  proviso  that  its  "schools  be  taught 
by  members  of  the  society  without  receiving  any  emolument  or 
fee  whatever."  Similar  schools  were  also  formed  in  Aber- 
deen, Glasgow,  and  other  towns  of  Scotland,  chiefly  however 
using  catechisms  in  their  instruction.  The  most  active  society 
for  two  generations  was  the  Glasgow  Sabbath-School  Union, 
into  which  several  previous  organizations  were  merged  in  1838. 
Out  of  this  union  came  the  Scottish  National  Sabbath-School 
Union,  formed  in  1898.  Its  objects  are  "to  encourage,  unite 
and  increase  Sabbath-schools  and  district  unions  in  Scotland, 
improve  the  methods  of  conducting  them,  circulate  informa- 
tion and  give  useful  suggestions."  The  affairs  of  this  union 
are  conducted  by  twenty  or  more  directors,  annually  elected, 
together  with  representatives  from  district  unions.  Its  mem- 
bers include  Sabbath-schools  and  unions  in  Scotland  that  send 
a  report  yearly  to  the  national  society,  provided  they  hold 
the  doctrines  of  "divine  inspiration  of  the  Holy  Scriptures," 
"the  deity  and  atonement  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,"  and 
"the  personality  and  influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit."  In  the 
first  decade  of  this  century  it  had  1,746  schools,  29,307  teach- 
ers, and  295,590  scholars.  It  aims  to  promote  the  improve- 
ment of  schools  through  normal  training  classes,  by  corre- 
spondence, by  issuing  works  on  child  study,  by  conferences, 
examinations,  reference  and  traveling  libraries,  by  Scripture 
picture  lending  schemes,  and  by  a  monthly  Sabbath-school 
magazine.  It  employs  a  traveling  missionary  and  contrib- 
utes toward  the  support  of  the  foreign  Sunday-school  mission- 
ary in  India.  It  encourages  the  formation  of  temperance 
societies,  advocates  better  Sabbath  observance  and  wider 
evangelistic  services.  The  church  of  Scotland  also  has  a  com- 
mittee which  publishes  The  Teachers1  Magazine,  maintains 
examinations    for    both    teachers    and    scholars,   and    issues 


32  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

schemes  of  lesions  for  the  two  large  Presbyterian  bodies  of 
Scotland. 

Sunday-Schools  in  Continental  Europe. — The  modern  Sun- 
day-school movement,  which  was  so  popular  in  Great  Britain 
and  America,  has  made  slow  progress  upon  the  continent  of 
Europe.  Early  in  the  nineteenth  century,  the  London  Sun- 
day-School Union  and  the  American  Sunday-School  Union 
made  appropriations,  from  time  to  time,  to  aid  in  promoting 
popular  Bible  study  in  Europe. 

Protestant  countries  of  Europe  maintain  methods  of  religious 
education  through  parochial  schools  and  churches,  which  in 
their  estimation  are  quite  effective  and,  along  some  lines,  more 
effective,  in  creating  Christian  character  than  the  modern 
Sunday-school.  Religious  training  is  not  overlooked  in  these 
countries  where  Protestantism  prevails. 

In  Germany,  day-schools  give  general  instruction  in  religion 
as  well  as  in  the  sciences.  This  instruction  may  be  based 
upon  catechisms  and  general  histories  rather  than  upon  the 
Bible.  Nevertheless,  it  is  instruction  in  religion  in  accordance 
with  scientific  school  methods.  In  some  parts  of  the  German 
Empire  illiteracy  is  less  than  in  any  other  country  of  the 
world.  The  monks  vigorously  opposed  the  new  learning  of 
the  Reformation  era  and  the  Roman  Catholic  influence  is  not 
counted  favorable  to  the  teaching  of  religion  in  the  Volksschule. 
The  Romanists  desire  to  have  their  children  instructed  in  the 
schools  conducted  exclusively  by  the  church.  The  monks  in 
the  earlier  period  said,  "The  New  Testament  is  a  book  full  of 
serpents  and  thorns."  A  similar  conflict  in  respect  to  prin- 
ciples of  religious  education  took  place  in  Switzerland,  where 
it  was  a  question  whether  the  school  should  be  denominational 
or  not.  A  provision  of  the  government  finally  stipulated  that 
instruction  in  religion  should  be  optional,  as  the  parents  of  the 
children  might  decide.  They  were  to  be  taught,  however,  by 
their  parish  clergymen,  and  the  government  teachers  were  not 
to  interfere  in  that  instruction. 

In  Roman  Catholic  countries  the  study  of  the  Bible  is 
rarely  encouraged — generally  discouraged.  The  people  are 
urged  to  learn  the  peculiar  forms  of  worship  and  doctrines  of 
the  Roman  Church,  through  catechisms,  elementary  works, 
and   parochial   schools.     Whatever  we  may   think  of  their 


ORIGIN  OF  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  33 

instruction,  many  in  those  countries  esteem  it  satisfactory 
because  it  holds  their  children  loyal  to  their  particular  forms 
of  faith. 

The  modern  Sunday-school  movement  was  introduced  into 
Sweden  over  sixty  years  ago  by  Lady  Ehrenborg,  who  became 
acquainted  with  the  system  through  the  Crystal  Palace  Exhi- 
bition in  London,  in  1851.  In  this  movement  she  was  aided 
by  Mr.  Palmquist — a  public-school  teacher  in  Stockholm. 
The  system  has  become  more  popular  and  grown  with  greater 
rapidity  in  Sweden,  perhaps,  than  in  any  other  continental 
country.  It  claims  about  7,000  Sunday-schools,  with  24,500 
teachers  and  upward  of  320,000  scholars. 

In  the  Netherlands,  Protestants  are  in  the  majority  and  are 
active,  having  had  a  Netherlands  Sunday-School  Union  since 
1865.  It  issued  lesson  helps,  translating  some  of  those  on  the 
International  Uniform  Lessons  published  by  the  American 
Sunday-School  Union.  It  has  upward  of  2,000  schools,  with 
5,000  teachers,  and  about  214,800  scholars. 

Owing  to  the  political  conditions  in  France  and  the  peculiar 
religious  controversies  in  that  country,  the  modern  Sunday- 
school  has  not  advanced  there  in  proportion  to  the  efforts 
made  for  its  introduction.  The  London  Sunday-School  Union 
appropriated  money  for  the  founding  of  a  school  by  a  French 
pastor  as  early  as  1812.  The  first  school  in  Paris  opened  in 
1818.  The  second  was  founded  by  Dr.  Monod  in  1842,  and 
the  French  Sunday-School  Society  was  founded  as  early  as 
1857.  This  flourished  for  a  time  under  the  efforts  of  the  late 
J.  Paul  Cook,  who  issued  a  Sunday-school  magazine.  The 
cause  was  further  promoted,  to  some  extent,  by  the  efforts  of 
Dr.  McAll  and  his  mission  in  Paris.  Altogether  France  re- 
ports about  1,200  schools,  with  7,000  teachers  and  67,000 
scholars. 

The  introduction  of  the  modern  Sunday-school  into  Germany 
began  in  1834,  but  was  promoted  by  the  efforts  of  Albert 
Woodruff  of  Brooklyn,  New  York — a  vice-president  of  the 
American  Sunday-School  Union — who  succeeded  in  founding 
modern  Sunday-schools  there.  He  enlisted  the  London  Sun- 
day-School Union  in  a  continental  mission  which  included  not 
only  Germany,  but  France,  Switzerland  and  Italy,  and  it  has 
since  extended  to  many  other  countries  of  the  East.     A  Sun- 


34  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

day-school  convention  was  held  in  Berlin  in  1891.  The  friends 
of  the  movement  there  claim  about  9,000  schools,  with  30,000 
teachers  and  950,000  scholars. 

In  Norway  and  Denmark,  modern  Sunday-schools  were 
stimulated  greatly,  about  1877,  by  a  native  missionary  em- 
ployed by  the  London  Sunday-School  Union.  They  have 
taken  more  kindly  to  these  newer  methods  than  some  of  the 
other  continental  countries,  having  in  Denmark  about  1,400 
schools,  with  5,000  teachers  and  92,000  scholars;  and  in 
Norway  about  1,044  schools,  with  6,000  officers  and  teachers, 
and  over  106,000  scholars.  In  Italy,  Austria,  Spain,  and 
Portugal,  the  modern  Sunday-school  movement  has  taken 
root,  but  its  growth  is  necessarily  slow  in  these  papal  lands. 
Recently  there  has  been  a  marked  awakening  in  Italy,  under 
the  influence  of  the  Waldensian  Society,  the  missionaries  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  of  America,  and  the  work  of  the 
late  Mr.  Van  Meter  in  Rome.  He  was  successful  in  securing  a 
room  formerly  used  by  the  inquisitors  of  the  Papal  Church, 
near  the  Vatican.  In  this  room  he  had  printed  copies  of  the 
Gospels  in  vernacular  and  successive  volumes  of  the  Scholars' 
Handbook  on  the  International  Lessons,  issued  by  the 'American 
Sunday-School  Union. 

In  Russia  and  other  countries  of  modern  Europe,  where  the 
Greek  Church  prevails,  Sunday-schools  have  been  established 
in  a  few  places.  In  other  nations  of  the  world,  throughout 
Asia,  Africa,  and  the  Philippine  Islands,  the  extension  of  the 
modern  Sunday-school  is  dependent  largely  upon  foreign  mis- 
sionary societies  working  in  these  lands.  There  is  a  growing 
Sunday-School  Union  on  the  continent  of  Australia,  which 
promotes  the  formation  of  Sunday-schools  under  conditions 
more  favorable  than  in  some  of  the  other  countries,  reporting 
about  8,000  Sunday-schools,  with  53,000  teachers  and  570,000 
scholars. 

In  India  the  friends  of  Sunday-schools  have  struggled  for 
years  to  promote  Bible  study  in  the  face  of  almost  insur- 
mountable obstacles.  Not  the  least  of  these  obstacles  is  the 
great  diversity  of  speech.  The  India  Sunday-School  Union 
aims  to  unite  Christian  workers  in  Bible  study,  and  to  direct 
their  attention  to  the  importance  of  educating  the  child. 
Weekly  editions  of  Sunday-school  lessons  and  helps  are  issued 


ORIGIN  OF  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  35 

in  upward  of  twenty  languages  and  dialects.  Thus  the  gospel 
message  of  Christ  may  be  heard  or  read  by  British,  Eurasian 
and  natives — by  many  of  the  millions  of  Hindus — whether 
Buddhists  or  Moslems,  in  that  great  country,  wonderful  for 
the  magnificence  of  its  temples  and  for  the  intensity  of  the 
sufferings  and  sacrifices  of  its  people,  in  trying  to  find  and  to 
worship  an  unknown  God. 

It  is  computed  that  the  membership  of  the  Sunday-schools 
of  India  is  not  less  than  750,000.  The  whole  number  of 
Indian  children  under  sixteen  years  of  age  is  computed  to  be 
over  130,000,000.  Nearly  140  missionary  societies  are  pro- 
claiming the  gospel  in  India  and  are  in  sympathy  with  the 
purpose  of  The  India  Sunday-School  Union.  Over  large  sec- 
tional areas  these  various,  mission  societies  are  coming  into 
voluntary  co-operation  for  the  purpose  of  greater  efficiency. 
The  outlook  for  the  progress  of  Bible  study  in  that  country  is 
hopeful. 

New  Zealand  has  a  society  with  1,700  schools,  about  10,000 
teachers,  and  120,000  scholars.  The  Fiji  Islands  report  1,000 
schools,  with  a  membership  of  25,000. 

The  work  in  Africa  is  largely  in  the  South  African  lands, 
where  progress  is  being  made.  They  report  about  5,000 
schools,  15,000  teachers,  and  about  200,000  scholars;  in  all 
Africa  about  9,000  schools,  30,000  teachers,  and  520,000 
scholars. 

Less  progress  is  being  made  in  Central  and  South  America, 
since  large  portions  of  the  population  are  Indian,  and  those  that 
are  white,  or  partially  of  the  white  race,  are  attached  to  the 
extreme  wing  of  the  Papal  Church,  discouraging  modern  Sun- 
day-schools and  generally  forbidding  the  study  of  the  Bible  by 
the  common  people. 

Instruction  in  Great  Britain. — For  the  first  fifty  years  of 
the  modern  Sunday-school  movement,  attention  was  given 
more  to  the  theory  of  education,  the  development  of  methods, 
and  the  training  of  teachers,  than  to  the  careful  preparation  of 
suitable  lists  of  lessons  for  Sunday-schools.  The  chief  text- 
book used  by  Raikes  and  his  associates  has  already  been  de- 
scribed (pp.  437,  438) .  Private  and  pay  schools  were  sustained 
in  the  cities  and  villages  of  Great  Britain  at  this  period,  but 
there  was  no  system  of  public  education  for  the  rural  districts. 


36  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

One  competent  writer  says:  "Popular  education  in  England 
made  less  progress  than  in  any  other  Protestant  country  in 
Europe."  It  is  also  affirmed  that  education  of  the  masses  of 
England  was  almost  entirely  neglected  prior  to  the  rise  of  the 
Sunday-school  movement.1  Obviously,  therefore,  the  leaders 
in  this  movement  found  it  necessary  to  discover  principles  of 
popular  education  and  instruction  applicable  to  the  condition 
of  the  masses  at  that  period.  The  books  of  instruction  were 
very  simple;  perhaps,  to  our  modern  sense,  rather  crude.  Yet 
they  had  some  clear  views  in  respect  to  grading  the  instruc- 
tion which  is  indicated  by  the  textbooks  in  use  in  these  early 
Sunday-schools.  Thus,  they  advanced  from  the  alphabet  to 
simple  words  of  one  or  two  syllables,  then  to  the  more  difficult 
grade,  ending  with  the  New  Testament  and  Bible  as  books 
for  reading  lessons.  The  practice  of  committing  passages  of 
Scripture  and  verses  of  hymns  to  memory  for  recitation  widely 
prevailed  for  a  considerable  period.  Following  this  came  some 
limitation  to  the  lessons  to  be  memorized,  giving  an  oppor- 
tunity for  explanation  and  application  of  the  truth.  Thus 
the  schools  of  London  and  some  of  the  larger  cities  of  Great 
Britain  adopted  the  Bible  lessons  put  forth  in  America  with 
Judson's  helps,  and  editions  of  Judsori's  Questions  were  issued 
for  the  use  of  other  schools,  as  will  be  noted  later  under  the 
history  of  the  movement  in  America. 

The  London  Sunday-School  Union  prepared  its  first  annual 
list  of  lessons  about  1840,  and  the  next  year  began  serial  notes 
on  the  lessons.  Similar  lists  were  published  by  the  London 
Union  from  time  to  time  until  it  adopted  the  Uniform  Lessons, 
afterward  called  "The  International  System  of  Sunday-School 
Lessons,"  in  1873.  These  were  used  together  with  a  series  of 
"Afternoon  Lessons"  for  several  years.  This  system  was  dis- 
placed in  part  by  a  series  of  graded  lessons  which  aimed  to 
adapt  the  selection  of  passages  of  Scripture  to  the  ages  of  the 
scholars  in  the  various  departments  of  the  schools.  Another 
popular  series  of  lessons  in  Great  Britain  was  that  prepared 
by  Eugene  Stock,  widely  used  in  the  Sunday-schools  of  the 
Church  of  England,  as  already  noticed,  and  these  lessons 
gained  in  popularity  among  many  dissenting  schools  of 
Great  Britain.      The   Scottish   Sabbath-schools    have   quite 

1  F.  V.  N.  Painter,  A  History  of  Education,  pp.  302-304. 


ORIGIN  OF  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  37 

uniformly  followed  the  lists  of  lessons  prepared  under  their 
own  direction. 

The  British  Sunday-schools  very  early  aimed  to  improve 
their  mode  of  instruction.  They  perceived  that  this  could  best 
be  done  by  securing  trained  teachers.  They  found  it  essential 
to  issue  magazines  and  periodicals  giving  information  in  regard 
to  practical  methods  pursued  in  the  various  schools  throughout 
the  kingdom  and  in  presenting  theories  of  education  and 
pointing  out  how  these  could  be  adapted  to  the  improvement 
of  teaching  in  Sunday-schools.  Thus  as  early  as  1813,  Mr. 
William  F.  Lloyd  began  the  publication  of  a  periodical  called 
The  Sunday-School  Repository  or  Teachers'  Magazine,  first  as 
a  quarterly,  then  as  a  monthly,  in  1821.  This  periodical  was 
edited  with  much  ability  and  had  an  important  influence  in 
unifying  the  system  and  methods  of  teaching  in  British  schools. 
His  periodical  was  merged  later  into  The  Union  Magazine, 
and  this  again  was  followed  by  The  Sunday-School  Teacher,  and 
The  Sunday-School  Chronicle,  already  mentioned.  To  apply 
the  truths  of  the  lessons  for  the  scholars,  other  periodicals  were 
issued  and  rapidly  multiplied,  so  that  after  each  lesson  the 
truths  imparted  might  be  further  impressed  upon  the  mind  to 
shape  the  conduct  and  life  through  incidents,  stories,  and 
various  didactic  articles,  in  simple  language,  suited,  as  was 
supposed,  to  the  child  mind. 

In  general  British  Sunday-school  workers  held  to  the  theory 
that  education  should  embrace  the  whole  man;  that  physical, 
intellectual  and  religious  training  were  all  three  necessary  for  a 
complete  training  of  a  person  as  a  Christian.  They  discovered 
many  obstacles  and  difficulties  in  the  way  of  carrying  out  their 
idea,  partly  owing  to  the  structure  of  society  in  a  monarchial 
country,  partly  due  to  theories  of  education  springing  out  of 
mediaeval  scholasticism,  which  Bacon,  Milton,  and  later  ed- 
ucators undertook  to  reform. 

Voluntary  instruction  with  unpaid  teachers,  the  use  of  the 
Bible  as  a  textbook,  and  the  economical  character  of  the 
Sunday-school  movement  made  its  expansion  phenomenal,  in 
Great  Britain  as  elsewhere.  A  parliamentary  census  of  Eng- 
land and  Wales,  in  1818,  gave  5,463  Sunday-schools,  with 
477,225  scholars.  A  like  census  in  1833  put  the  membership 
at  1,548,890.     An  educational  census  of  England  and  Wales 


38  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

in  1851  gave  the  number  in  Sunday-schools  at  2,407,642,  and 
this  was  260,000  more  than  could  then  be  found  in  the  public 
and  private  schools  of  those  countries. 

The  centenary  of  Sunday-schools  in  1880  placed  the  number 
of  Sunday  scholars  in  Great  Britain  at  6,060,667,  taught  by 
674,704  teachers.  At  the  close  of  the  first  decade  of  the 
present  century,  there  were  49,210  Sunday-schools  in  Great 
Britain  and  Ireland,  with  712,625  officers  and  teachers  and 
7,425,957  scholars.  In  all  Europe,  so  far  as  reported,  there 
were  83,033  schools,  823,280  teachers  and  officers,  9,581,769 
scholars. 

These  statements  justify  the  assertion  of  the  Great  Com- 
moner, John  Bright,  "I  believe  that  there  is  no  field  of  labor, 
no  field  of  Christian  benevolence,  which  has  yielded  a  greater 
harvest  to  our  national  interests  and  national  character,  than 
the  institution  of  Sunday-schools."  l 

Of  the  obstacles  to  its  growth  on  the  Continent  it  has  been 
said — and  perhaps  with  truth — that  the  state  controls  educa- 
tion too  dominantly  for  the  modern  Sunday-school  to  grow. 
In  fact,  among  all  the  Latin  races,  the  Sunday-schooHs  a  "deli- 
cate exotic."  It  seems  to  require  a  large  freedom,  otherwise 
it  withers  or  has  a  sapless  growth.  In  fact,  in  some  monar- 
chal countries,  it  seemed  to  have  greater  obstacles  at  the 
beginning.  Thomas  Raikes,  writing  in  1787,  said:  "Sunday- 
schools  flourish  in  England;  in  Scotland  they  are  not  wanted; 
in  Ireland  they  are  highly  necessary."2 

Whether  under  the  empire  or  the  republic,  the  Sunday- 
school  has  not  found  a  congenial  soil  in  France. 

In  Germany,  the  parochial  schools,  as  already  stated,  led 
the  majority  of  the  people  to  consider  the  new  movement  not  a 
superior  one,  and  therefore  unnecessary.  In  Roman  Catholic 
countries,  the  voluntary,  lay-teaching  feature  of  the  modern 
Sunday-school  doomed  it  to  exclusion.  The  so-called  Sunday- 
schools,  under  Cardinal  Borromeo,  Archbishop  of  Milan,  were 
catechetical  and  had  little  in  common  with  the  modern  move- 
ment. The  zealots  of  the  hierarchy  in  the  Greek  Church  were 
not  favorable  to  the  modern  movement,  although  Catharine  II 

1  Church  8undayh8chool  Ufagazine,  July,  1887,  p.  572. 

J  J.  Henry  Harris,  The  Story  of  the  Sunday-School,  p.  125. 


ORIGIN  OF  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  39 

of  Russia  invited  Mr.  Raikes  to  St.  Petersburg — an  invitation 
which  he  declined — to  explain  the  system. 

Where  it  has  made  any  headway  on  the  Continent,  it  has 
been  among  the  free  Protestant  churches,  by  missionaries  from 
other  countries,  especially  from  Great  Britain  and  America. 
Church  and  state  customs  have  interfered  with  its  proceed- 
ings and  limited  its  extension.  The  European  war  (1914) 
broke  in  pieces  plans  of  Sunday-school  and  niission  work  in 
Continental  countries  devastated  by  contending  millions  in 
the  greatest  conflict  the  world  has  ever  known.  (See  Inter- 
national S.  S.  Lessons,  British  Graded  Lessons,  Teacher 
Training,  Conventions.) 


SECTION  II 

THE   SUNDAY-SCHOOL  IN   AMERICA 

Toleration  and  Education  in  America. — "Tell  me  what  you 
are  learning  and  I  will  tell  you  what  you  are"  is  a  new  version 
of  an  old  proverb  that  fittingly  interprets  the  educational  zeal 
of  the  founders  of  the  American  nation.  However  diverse 
their  views  on  other  matters,  they  were  united  in  this — that 
education  and  religion  were  vitally  necessary  for  the  stability 
and  happiness  of  any  people.  They  also  sought  for  freedom  to 
worship  God  according  to  the  dictates  of  their  own  consciences. 
Their  ideal  was  civil  and  religious  freedom,  often  rather  vaguely 
practiced.  Yet  "liberty"  was  the  one  cry  of  Pilgrim  and  Puri- 
tan in  New  England,  of  the  Dutchman  in  New  York  and  New 
Jersey,  of  the  Highlander  and  Huguenot  in  the  Carolinas,  of 
the  Cavalier  and  the  Churchman  in  Virginia,  of  the  Romanist 
in  Maryland,  and  of  the  German  and  Quaker  in  Pennsylvania. 
In  theory  and  practice,  the  Quaker  stood  for  larger  toleration 
than  did  the  others,  "We  are  here  for  the  Lord's  sake,"  said 
Penn,  in  1682.1  Later  his  followers  declared:  "Our  business 
here  is  not  so  much  to  build  houses  and  establish  factories 
.  .  .  that  we  may  enrich  ourselves  .  .  .  as  to  erect 
temples  of  holiness  and  righteousness,  which  God  may  de- 
light in."  Of  New  York  (then  New  Amsterdam)  the  direc- 
tors wrote,  "Let  every  peaceful  citizen  enjoy  freedom  of 
conscience." 

As  might  be  expected,  therefore,  the  modern  Sunday-school 
movement  found  more  congenial  conditions  and  fewer  ob- 
stacles in  America  than  in  Great  Britain.  Pilgrim  and 
Churchman  alike  made  early  provision  for  religious  instruction 
and  for  the  education  of  youth.  While  there  was  no  system  of 
free  schools  for  the  entire  people,  careful  attention  was  given 
to  general  education  and  to  the  founding  of  colleges,  as  Har- 
vard in  Massachusetts,  1638,  and  William  and  Mary  in  Virginia, 

1  See  Penn  and  Religious  Liberty,  p.  24. 

40 


THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  IN  AMERICA  41 

1693.  The  State  and  the  Church  were  divorced,  but  education 
and  religion,  with  the  early  settlers,  went  hand  in  hand.  In 
America  the  Sunday-school  encountered  some  difficulties  of  a 
type  similar  to  those  found  in  Great  Britain.  In  the  eighteenth 
century  there  was  a  general  decline  in  morals  and  religion. 
This  was  checked,  in  part,  by  revivals  under  Edwards  and 
Whitefield  in  the  north,  and  the  Huguenots  in  the  south,  but  a 
wave  of  disturbing  events — European  skepticism  and  manners, 
and  general  low  morality — swept  over  the  country  in  the 
latter  part  of  that  century.  Thus  President  Dwight  of  Yale 
says,  'Trance,  Germany  and  Great  Britain  vomited  the  dregs 
of  infidelity  upon  us."  Another  writer  testifies  to  a  conspiracy 
of  infidels  and  atheists  against  religion,  government,  and 
humanity,  against  truth  and  peace,  order  and  liberty,  which 
"brought  disorder  and  wickedness  in  every  form  ...  in 
New  England  and  in  other  parts  of  the  world."  Moreover, 
formative  American  society  felt  the  adverse  influence  of  the 
great  writers  in  the  Augustan  age  of  English  literature.  A 
noted  American  educator  has  pointed  out  the  lack  of  any  just 
conception  of  education  by  these  eminent  literary  writers  of 
that  age.1  The  Pilgrims  were  more  broadly  tolerant  than  the 
Puritans.  Puritan  writers  in  America,  like  those  abroad,  were 
in  favor  of  education  for  clergymen  and  the  professions;  the 
Pilgrims  favored  general  education  of  the  common  people  also. 
Gov.  Winthrop  was  more  liberal  and  tolerant  than  Cotton 
Mather,  and  William  Penn  expressed  greater  religious  tolera- 
tion than  Churchman  or  Puritan,  but  the  Huguenot  practiced 
the  broadest  spirit  of  religious  liberty  in  that  era. 

Dr.  Samuel  Johnson  said:    "A  little  learning  to  a  poor  man 
is  a  dangerous  thing" — a  reflection  from  Pope's  noted  lines: 

A  little  learning  is  a  dangerous  thing; 
Drink  deep  or  taste  not  the  Pierian  spring. 

This  statement  is  as  offensive  to  reason  as  the  simile  is  to  a 
teetotaler!  Shakespeare  describes  the  child  as  "creeping  like 
snail,  unwillingly  to  school."  Shenstone  was  merry  over  the 
manners  of  a  school-dame,  and  Goldsmith  describes  a  school- 
master as  arbitrary  and  tyrannical,  while  Cowper  appealed  to 
his  age  to  treat  private  tutors  with  decency.     Even  Sir  Walter 

1  Horace  Mann,  Lectures  on  Education,  p.  225,  ff. 


42  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

Scott  paints  a  person  awkward  in  manner,  careless  of  dress,  a 
superstitious  pedant — and  names  the  pedagogue  Dominie 
Sampson.  Washington  Irving,  infected  by  a  similar  epidemic, 
caricatures  the  schoolmaster  in  his  character  of  Ichabod  Crane. 
All  this  shows  the  low  ideal — or  lack  of  ideal — of  popular  edu- 
cation and  of  the  educator. 

With  all  this  ignorance  and  unpopularity,  the  modern  Sun- 
day-school movement  had  to  contend,  even  in  America.  In 
face  of  it,  however,  American  workers  are  given  credit  for  suc- 
cessfully experimenting;  while  Great  Britain  adopted  the  re- 
sults, so  far  as  dissimilar  social  stratification  made  it  possible. 

Intelligent  American  educators  were  then  sure  of  one  thing 
— that  the  best  way  to  displace  ignorance,  to  develop  public 
conscience,  and  to  make  intelligent  and  virtuous  citizens,  was 
to  give  thorough  instruction  in  the  Bible.  They  had  a  pro- 
found conviction  of  the  importance  of  such  instruction  as  a 
basis  of  stable  government.  They  were  apprehensive  that  the 
ignorance  and  consequent  wretchedness  that  they  knew  pre- 
vailed in  the  cities  of  the  Old  World  might  easily  be  trans- 
planted to  the  cities  of  the  New.  As  a  result  of  these  observa- 
tions and  convictions,  Christian  philanthropists  in  different 
colonies  of  America,  with  a  benevolent  spirit  born  of  this  re- 
ligious zeal,  attempted  to  remove  ignorance  and  misery  and 
to  better  society  through  Bible  study. 

Early  Sunday-Schools. — A  careful  investigation  of  first-hand 
records  of  Sunday-schools  reveals  that,  like  all  great  moral  and 
religious  movements,  the  modern  Sunday-school  idea  existed 
more  or  less  clearly  in  many  minds  and  sprang  up  in  many 
widely  separated  communities.  Leaving  out  of  consideration 
the  parochial  schools  in  the  Middle  and  Southern  states,  and 
the  parish  schools  of  New  England  attached  to  the  church, 
there  were — parallel  with  these  in  many  places — schools  on 
Sunday  in  which  the  chief  instruction  was  from  the  Bible. 
Some  of  them  used  catechisms  also,  especially  in  New  England. 
John  Cotton's  famous  catechism,  entitled  Milk  for  Babes 
(1646),  was  reckoned  by  Cotton  Mather  as  the  catechism  of 
New  England  for  fifty  years  after  its  publication.  The  New 
England  Primer,  like  The  Bay  Psalm  Book,  indicates  the  kind 
of  instruction  given  in  schools  on  Sunday.  But  in  other  sec- 
tions the  instruction  was  more  directly  biblical  than  where 


THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  IN  AMERICA  43 

either  Cotton's  catechism  or  the  New  England  Primer  was  used. 
Therefore  it  is  clear  that  there  were  schools  in  America,  held 
on  Sunday,  previous  to  1780,  which  were  substantially  similar 
in  type  to  the  present  Sunday-school.  It  is  generally  con- 
ceded by  American  students  of  first-hand  documents  that  such 
schools  of  a  character  like  to  those  founded  by  Raikes,  with  all 
their  essential  features,  were  to  be  found  in  America  long  be- 
fore his  day.  These  schools  had  many  of  the  features  as  well 
as  the  form  common  to  the  modern  Sunday-school,  which 
entitled  them  to  be  counted  forerunners  of  the  modern  move- 
ment. True,  they  were  sporadic  instances.  The  movement 
by  Raikes  gave  popularity  to  the  new  form  and  led  to  its  almost 
universal  adoption.  Claims  have  been  made  for  the  early 
existence  of  many  such  schools.  I  need  note  only  the  follow- 
ing: 

Norwich  and  Bethlehem,  Connecticut;  Roxbury  and  Ply- 
mouth, Massachusetts;  among  the  Schwenckf elders,  and  at 
Ephrata,  Pennsylvania;  Philadelphia,  under  Zinzendorf  and 
Mrs.  Greening;  and,  perhaps,  Savannah,  Georgia,  by  Wesley. 
(Appendix,  pp.  441,  442.)  These  schools  were  not  merely  to 
prepare  persons  for  confirmation,  church  membership,  or 
coming  to  the  Lord's  Supper,  but  to  train  or  teach  them 
how  to  live  the  Christian  life. 

Here  and  there  a  local  church  tolerated  the  modern  Sunday- 
school  in  form  and  in  fact  for  children  of  the  church,  but  such 
cases  were  rare.  Denominational  organizations  were  jealous 
of  their  prerogatives.  Ministers  were  the  generally  recog- 
nized leaders  in  religious  instruction.  Laymen,  even  in  New 
England,  had  a  secondary  place,  if  any  place  at  all,  in  conduct- 
ing such  instruction.  True,  there  were  teachers  associated 
with  the  pastors  in  some  churches  of  the  early  order  in  New 
England.  This  feature  gradually  developed  into  the  tolera- 
tion of  intelligent  and  devout  Christian  laymen  as  aids  in 
imparting  religious  instruction,  not  only  in  the  family  but  also 
in  the  church.  The  idea  and  the  principle  spread  slowly. 
Bishop  White,  on  his  return  from  England  where  he  had  gone 
to  be  consecrated  as  Bishop  and  had  learned  of  Raikes'  move- 
ment, was  unable  to  introduce  it  into  his  "United  Parish"  in 
Philadelphia.  The  churches  regarded  it  as  an  innovation 
and  were  suspicious  of  it,  partly  because  of  its  English  origin. 


44  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

Americans  were  exceedingly  jealous  of  an  invasion  of  their 
religious  liberty. 

At  first,  therefore,  this  new  scheme  was  rejected  by  the 
churches,  though  accepted  by  individuals  as  a  philanthropic 
movement  for  the  moral  and  religious  education  of  all  classes. 
It  thus  became  largely  a  movement  sustained  by  laymen,  and 
upon  a  union  basis;  not  opposed  to,  though  not  a  part  of,  the 
organized  work  of  the  local  church. 

Organized  Sunday-School  Movement. — Herein  is  a  striking 
illustration  of  the  marvelous  working  of  God's  providence  upon 
different  minds  in  different  places  to  prepare  the  way  for  the 
coming  of  his  kingdom.  When  Raikes'  movement  first  agi- 
tated England,  America  was  in  a  tumult  over  questions  relat- 
ing to  its  civil  government  and  the  founding  of  the  nation. 
The  federation  was  weak  and  the  new  nation  was  in  danger  of 
being  split  into  a  dozen  contending,  petty  states.  Happily 
this  was  averted  by  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution  in  1787. 
This  peaceful  conclusion  gave  an  opportunity  for  Christian 
philanthropists  to  turn  their  attention  toward  the  removal  of 
ignorance  and  vice,  and  the  education  and  betterment  of  the 
common  people  through  religious  instruction.  Philadelphia 
was  then  the  chief  city  of  the  country,  having  one-third  more 
population  than  New  York,  and  was  likewise,  for  a  time,  the 
country's  civil  as  well  as  commercial  center.  The  religious 
toleration  characterizing  the  colony  founded  by  Penn  was  per- 
petuated by  his  followers  and  tended  to  promote  the  spirit  of 
philanthropy  and  benevolence.  This  stirred  the  hearts  of  the 
citizens  of  Philadelphia  to  grapple  with  the  problem  of  the 
moral  and  religious  improvement  of  the  young. 

The  First  Day  Society. — The  lack  of  education  of  young 
persons  who  were  apprenticed  to  trades  was  conspicuous. 
This  not  only  hindered  their  efficiency  as  workmen,  but  led  to 
various  forms  of  vice  and  depravity.  Most  of  these  persons 
were  children  of  indigent  parents.  Because  of  the  lack  of  free 
public  schools,  they  had  not  received  instruction  in  early  life. 
So  Sunday,  it  was  remarked,  "was  employed  for  the  worst  of 
purposes;  the  depravation  of  morals  and  manners." 

It  was  apparent  to  the  philanthropic  persons  who  became 
impressed  with  these  conditions  that  it  would  require  a  united 
effort  of  all  the  forces  for  good  to  succeed  in  the  betterment  of 


THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  IN  AMERICA  45 

society  as  it  then  existed.  Benjamin  Rush,  M.  D.,  who  had 
been  educated  at  Princeton  and  for  a  time  was  a  member  of  the 
Old  Third  (Pine  Street)  Presbyterian  Church  (but  had  lapsed 
into  Universalism),  together  with  some  friends  and  persons 
attached  to  other  congregations  in  the  city,  proposed  a  meet- 
ing. This  meeting,  which  was  attended  also  by  Bishop  William 
White  (later  he  was  chosen  president),  was  held  December  19, 
1790,  and  it  was  decided  by  ten  or  twelve  benevolent  persons 
present  to  organize  a  society  for  the  establishment  of  First  Day 
or  Sunday-schools.  A  constitution  was  prepared  and  adopted 
at  a  meeting  the  following  week,  December  26,  1790;  the  pur- 
pose being  to  instruct  the  rising  generation  by  teaching  them 
"from  the  Bible"  and  "from  such  other  moral  and  religious 
books  as  the  society  might,  from  time  to  time,  direct."  As 
this  constitution  was  presented  and  discussed,  section  by  sec- 
tion, "read  over,  adopted  by  paragraphs,  amended  and 
finally  agreed  to" — this  process  consuming  an  entire  meeting — 
it  is  evident  that  careful  thought  was  given  to  the  forming  of 
this  plan  for  the  society.  There  is  no  evidence  in  their  records, 
nor  any  intimation  given,  that  they  copied  the  plan  of  Raikes 
in  England,  but  as  one  of  their  number  had  been  in  England, 
doubtless  it  was  not  unknown  to  some  of  them. 

The  churches  not  being  ready  for  such  a  movement,  it  was 
practically  necessary  to  establish  it  on  a  voluntary  and  union 
basis.  Rooms  were  hired  for  holding  its  schools,  and  teachers 
or  masters  secured  to  conduct  the  schools,  after  the  manner  of 
the  plan  pursued  in  England.  Obviously,  however,  their  plan 
was  not  merely  to  teach  reading  and  writing;  their  real  purpose 
was  to  improve  the  morals  and  the  religious  character  of  the 
"learners."  They  insisted  that  all  reading  lessons  should  be 
from  the  Bible.  Even  the  primers  and  spelling  books  which 
they  approved,  consisted  of  words  and  short  sentences  from 
the  Scriptures. 

Nor  did  this  First  Day  Society  confine  its  labors  to  opening 
and  conducting  Sunday-schools  on  Sunday.  It  had  the 
wider  purpose  in  view  of  promoting  public,  free  schools  for 
the  state.  One  of  its  first  acts  was  to  forward  a  petition  to  the 
Legislature  of  Pennsylvania  declaring  "that  the  proper  educa- 
tion of  youth  is  an  object  of  the  first  importance,  particularly 
in  free  countries,  as  the  surest  preservation  of  the  virtue,  lib- 


46  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

erty  and  happiness  of  the  people."  The  directors  called  at- 
tention to  the  salutary  effects  of  Sunday-schools  already  es- 
tablished, as  proving  that  similar  schools  established  at  the 
public  expense  are  "the  most  effective  means  of  diffusing  these 
blessings  among  the  people." 

The  society  adopted  five  rules  for  the  government  of  its 
schools.  The  second  required  the  teachers  to  see  that  pupils 
committed  to  their  charge  attended  the  places  of  public  wor- 
ship to  which  they  severally  belonged.  The  third  rule  required 
the  scholars  to  come  clean,  and,  "if  guilty  of  lying,  swearing, 
pilfering,  indecent  talking,  or  any  other  misbehavior,  the 
teacher  shall  point  out  the  evil  of  such  conduct,  and  if  that 
should  prove  unavailing,  notify  the  visiting  committee  who, 
if  they  see  cause,  are  to  expel  such  delinquent  from  the  school, 
in  the  presence  of  the  other  scholars."  Rule  four  states  the 
time  when  the  schools  are  to  be  held,  and  rule  five  that  a  copy 
of  the  rules  are  to  be  posted  in  each  schoolroom  and  read  and 
explained  once  a  month  to  the  scholars,  "also  whenever  the 
teacher  shall  see  occasion." 

The  records  of  the  society  tell  of  some  of  the  lads  who  steadily 
attended  the  schools  and  received  premiums  for  good  behavior 
and  improvement  in  their  studies,  and  have  since  "become 
opulent  and  respectable  members  of  the  community."  Many 
of  the  directors  of  this  society  were  conspicuous  in  public 
affairs.  Benjamin  Rush  was  a  signer  of  the  Declaration  of 
Independence  and  prominent  in  temperance  reform.  Matthew 
Carey,  as  a  liberal  Roman  Catholic,  stood  in  high  repute  among 
his  fellow  citizens.  Dr.  Benjamin  Say,  Dr.  William  Currie, 
Joseph  Sharpless,  Thomas  P.  Cope  and  Capt.  Falconer  were 
noted  for  their  interest  in  public  affairs. 

It  is  worthy  of  note  that  some  years  later  the  state  of  Dela- 
ware instituted  free  schools  for  the  education  of  children  on 
Sunday;  those  schools  to  expend  not  exceeding  twenty  cents 
for  every  white  scholar  taught.  About  a  score  of  schools  was 
soon  founded  under  that  act,  and  the  state  appropriated  nearly 
$200  a  year  to  each  county  for  the  maintenance  of  such  Sun- 
day-schools.1 

Bishop  William  White  was  retained  as  president  of  the 
First  Day  Society  for  about  forty-six  years.     Peter  Thompson, 

1  Report  of  Commissioner  of  Education,  1896,  1897,  Chapter  IX. 


THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  IN  AMERICA  47 

Jr.,  was  the  first  secretary.  Several  schools  were  opened  for 
girls  and  for  boys  which  were  held  from  eight  o'clock  to  ten 
o'clock  on  Sunday  morning  and  from  four,  or  half-past  four, 
to  six  o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  The  masters  were  to  receive, 
for  forty  scholars,  thirty  pounds  a  year  colonial  currency 
(or  about  eighty  dollars),  but  as  each  of  the  schools  speedily 
reported  upward  of  one  hundred  scholars,  the  salary  was  in- 
creased to  forty-five  pounds,  or  SI 20,  per  annum  for  each 
master.  To  stimulate  the  pupils  in  learning,  it  was  agreed 
either  to  issue  or  to  purchase  "small  moral  books  to  be  let  to  the 
scholars  or  given  as  premiums."  Among  the  books  so  pur- 
chased were:  Doaley's  Fables,  Barbauld's  Songs,  Beauties  of 
Creation,  Catechism  of  Nature,  Powers  of  Religion,  Economy  of 
Human  Life,  Watts'  Songs,  Whole  Duty  of  Woman,  and  Fruits 
of  the  Father's  Love,  besides  Bibles  and  Testaments.  They 
studied  economy  of  administration;  for  when  several  designs 
for  a  society  seal  were  offered  and  the  amount  required  for  the 
designs  exceeded  what  they  thought  prudent  to  expend,  they 
rejected  them,  and  selected  a  simpler  seal  with  a  Scripture  text 
which  they  put,  for  brevity's  sake,  in  Latin,  Licet  Sabbatis 
Beneficere  (It  is  lawful  to  do  well  on  Sabbath  Days). 

The  persons  forming  the  First  Day  Society  were  of  different 
faiths,  yet,  aside  from  Bishop  White  the  president,  no  reader  of 
their  records  of  today  could  tell  to  which  of  the  several  de- 
nominations the  respective  members  of  that  society  belonged. 
Their  religious  differences  were  so  put  aside  and  they  were  so 
fully  agreed  in  their  zeal  for  "the  religious  improvement  and 
good  education  of  youth"  that  they  worked  together  as  one 
body  of  benevolent  Christians. 

In  the  first  twenty-three  years,  the  benevolent  receipts  of 
the  society  were  $9,186.49,  and  its  expenditures  $9,133.01. 
It  also  had  legacies  amounting  to  about  $1,550,  which  were 
funded.  It  taught,  gratuitously,  2,127  youths  in  the  first  ten 
years  of  its  existence.  Early  in  the  nineteenth  century,  the 
system  of  Sunday-schools  with  voluntary  teachers  became  so 
wide-spread  that  the  First  Day  Society  decided  to  discontinue 
its  paid  schools,  which  it  did  before  1819,  and  voted  to  expend 
the  income  of  its  funds  in  aiding  schools  in  Philadelphia  and 
vicinity  which  were  conducted  upon  the  new  plan  of  voluntary, 
unpaid  teachers.     The  aid  consisted  chiefly  in  appropriating 


48  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

publications  of  the  Sunday  and  Adult  School  Union  or  of  the 
American  Sunday-School  Union — a  work  still  continued. 
The  First  Day  Society  is,  therefore,  the  oldest  existing  Sunday- 
school  society  in  the  world.  Its  charter  was  granted  in  1796 
and  it  has  continued  for  over  125  years,  and  still  maintains 
its  organization  intact,  with  a  board  of  twelve  visitors  and 
a  president,  vice-president,  secretary  and  treasurer  that 
manage  its  affairs.  It  has  been  closely  affiliated  with  the 
American  Sunday-School  Union  for  a  century,  most  of  the 
members  and  officers  being  also  in  responsible  positions  in  the 
Union. 

The  Voluntary  System. — The  churches  in  their  organic  ca- 
pacity continued  for  some  time  to  regard  the  Sunday-school 
movement  not  as  a  church  institution  but  as  a  philanthropic 
effort  to  improve  the  moral  condition  of  the  ignorant  and 
neglected  classes  outside  of  the  church.  Some  ecclesiastics 
declared  that  it  was  a  wicked  use  of  holy  time  to  hold  such 
schools  on  the  Sabbath  day.  It  is  said  that  a  young  woman  of 
the  First  Congregational  Church  in  Norwichtown,  Connecti- 
cut, had  gathered  a  number  of  children  for  instruction  on  Sun- 
day and  that  the  pastor  of  the  church,  when  passing*  the  build- 
ing, shook  his  ivory-headed  cane  at  it,  with  honest  indignation 
declaring:  "You  imps  of  Satan,  doing  the  Devil's  work."  1 
Thus  the  spirit  of  Christianity  awakened  activities  in  its  mem- 
bers that  some  ecclesiastics  conscientiously  felt  compelled  to 
condemn.  The  preachers  proclaimed  the  gospel;  and  the 
laity  interpreted  and  applied  it  literally  and  logically — more 
broadly  than  did  their  teachers.  The  instance  in  Connecticut 
does  not  stand  alone.  In  a  large  number  of  places  throughout 
the  United  States,  at  that  period,  churches  would  not  allow 
the  Sunday-school  a  place  in  their  buildings. 

As  in  England,  so  here  in  America,  the  expense  of  paid 
teachers  was  too  great  to  be  continued,  and  voluntary  teachers 
were  absolutely  necessary  for  the  general  success  of  the  new 
movement.  So  great  grew  the  "craze"  for  voluntary  teaching 
that  paid  teachers  were  almost  discredited.  In  the  wild  zeal 
for  it,  a  leader  as  intelligent  as  John  Angell  James  declared: 
"Hireling  teachers  can  scarcely  be  expected  to  possess  either 
the  zeal  or  the  ability  of  those  who  now  engage  in  the  work 

1  Henry  Clay  Trumbull,  Yale  Lectures  on  the  Sunday-School,  p.  128. 


THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  IN  AMERICA  49 

from  motives  of  pure  benevolence.  Gratuitous  instruction  was 
an  astonishing  improvement  of  the  system." 

The  erroneous  conclusion  of  this  writer  is  obvious,  for  it 
would  exclude  the  best  educators  in  nearly  all  our  religious  and 
intellectual  institutions  of  the  present  day,  including  clergy- 
men. Nearly  a  generation  passed,  however,  before  the  church 
would  generally  tolerate  this  Sunday-school  movement.  Some 
advanced  educators  now  think  that  modern  Sunday-schools 
will  not  make  decided  progress  in  religious  education  until  they 
return  to  some  system  of  paid  and  thoroughly  trained  teachers, 
as  well  as  paid  superintendents. 

Even  the  plan  of  Dr.  Andrew  Bell  and  of  Joseph  Lancaster 
— the  voluntary,  mutual  and  monitorial  system  of  instruction 
— failed  fully  to  recommend  Sunday-schools  to  the  church. 
Raikes  had  earlier  applied  this  monitorial  and  voluntary  plan, 
so  they  were  not  the  originators  of  it.  By  it,  the  new  move- 
ment was  made  possible  and  popular  throughout  Britain  and 
America — but  outside  of  the  church.  It  enlisted  the  laymen 
in  an  active  effort  to  promote  the  kingdom  of  Christ.  While 
winning  lay  members  to  its  advocacy  and  support,  it  caused 
many  in  the  ministry  to  look  upon  this  feature  as  an  invasion 
of  their  particular  prerogatives  and  so  they  continued  to  stand 
aloof  from  it,  or  simply  to  patronize  it,  as  a  scheme  to  be  toler- 
ated when  used  for  the  betterment  of  the  ignorant  and  lower 
classes.  It  was  not,  in  their  view,  a  movement  desirable  in  the 
organized  work  of  the  church.  This  was  particularly  true  in 
the  churches  of  Scotland. 

Why  the  Early  Movement  was  Union. — It  is  now  a  piece  of 
forgotten  history  that  for  about  forty  years  after  the  founding 
of  the  modern  Sunday-school  movement  the  schools  were  vir- 
tually compelled  to  adopt  the  non-denominational  or  union 
plan.  The  organized  church  generally  either  opposed  the 
scheme  or  believed  that  to  make  it  an  integral  part  of  the 
church  would  debase  the  divine  plan,  by  a  mere  man-made 
appendage.  It  was  imagined  by  some  that  the  supporters  of 
the  Sunday-school  imperilled  or  impaired  the  influence  of  the 
church.  Even  so  late  as  1812,  the  famous  Stockport  School 
of  England  felt  it  necessary  to  justify  its  adherence  to  the 
union  principle  in  these  plain  words:   " While  party  dissension 


50  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

runs  high,  .  .  .  attached  to  no  particular  sect,  our  plan 
comprehends  whatever  is  excellent  in  all." 

The  spread  of  schools  on  the  union  principle  was  phenomenal. 
The  common  people  took  to  them  gladly.  While  catechism 
recitation  was  sometimes  counted  irksome,  Bible  study  was 
popular.  Wherever  union  schools  were  fostered,  a  wave  of 
religious  revival  usually  followed  in  the  community.  For 
these  reasons,  the  prevailing  type  of  early  modern  Sunday- 
schools  was  forced  to  be,  for  nearly  half  a  century,  on  the  union 
plan.  This  was  particularly  true  in  America.  These  new 
schools  sprang  up  not  merely  in  cities,  but  in  provincial  towns 
and  in  the  rural  districts.  Religious  journals  of  England  and 
America  recorded  marked  revivals  of  morals  and  religion,  fol- 
lowing the  spread  of  Sunday-schools  in  the  early  part  of  the 
nineteenth  century,  as  well  as  the  birth  of  great  Bible,  tract, 
and  missionary  institutions  for  the  spread  of  the  gospel. 
Nor  were  such  schools  on  the  union  plan  confined  to  cities  or 
to  rural  districts;  they  were  and  are  that  form  of  Bible  study 
best  adapted  to  reformatories,  benevolent  homes,  houses  of 
detention,  jails,  penitentiaries,  and  other  penal  institutions 
of  the  state  and  of  the  federal  government.  They  are  equally 
well  adapted  to  army  posts,  naval  and  life-saving  stations,  and 
to  all  government  organizations  where  the  religious  instruc- 
tion must  be  non-sectarian. 

Not  only  were  early  Sunday-schools  necessarily  on  the 
union  basis;  they  continued  to  be  the  most  successful  form  of 
Bible  study  in  conditions  such  as  have  just  been  indicated. 
Their  wonderful  growth  and  marvelous  spiritual  power  were 
in  a  large  measure  due  to  the  faithful  teaching  of  the  Bible  and 
to  that  visible  unity  for  which  the  Master  prayed:  "That  they 
all  may  be  one  .  .  .  that  the  world  may  believe  that  thou 
didst  send  me."     (John  17  :  21.) 

The  rapid  increase  of  local  union  Sunday-schools  and  classes 
and  the  need  for  information  in  respect  to  the  best  practical 
modes  of  conducting  them,  naturally  suggested  the  value  of 
co-operation,  if  not  combination,  of  the  various  local  organiza- 
tions into  a  wider  advisory  and  administrative  body.  It  was 
necessary,  however,  to  proceed  with  great  caution  in  this  mat- 
ter. Denominational  lines  were  drawn  very  sharply  and  often 
the  controversies  over  theological  doctrines  and  modes  of 


THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  IN  AMERICA  51 

church  worship  and  of  church  polity  were  keenly  discussed, 
sometimes  with  no  little  acrimony.  Federation  of  churches 
was  out  of  the  question  and,  by  many,  would  have  been  counted 
a  compromise  of  the  truth.  The  association  of  local  schools 
was  therefore  purely  voluntary,  and  care  had  to  be  taken  not 
to  interfere  with  the  internal  management  of  the  schools. 
But  the  spirit  of  co-operation  and  union  was  coming  rapidly 
into  popular  favor. 

Union  Society  of  1804. — As  early  as  1804,  a  number  of 
women  of  different  denominations  formed  a  "Union  Society" 
for  the  education  of  poor  female  children  in  Philadelphia. 
This  society  gave  attention  to  the  religious  training  and  in- 
struction of  girls.  It  is  worthy  of  note  that  all  the  persons 
managing  this  society  were  women;  twenty-six  of  whom 
applied  for  an  act  of  incorporation,  which  was  granted  them  in 
April,  1808,  by  the  state  and  the  supreme  court,  with  the 
affirmation  that  the  women  were  "citizens  of  this  common- 
wealth." This  society  prospered  for  several  years,  having 
upward  of  three  hundred  children  in  one  school  who  "on 
entering  the  school  knew  nothing  beyond  their  alphabet;  and 
many  were  ignorant  even  of  that."  They  were  taught  to  read, 
write  and  sew.  They  also  committed  to  memory '  'large  portions 
of  Holy  Scripture,  many  devout  hymns,"  and  were  instructed 
"in  such  catechisms  as  were  most  approved  of  by  their  parents." 

This  society  held  public  examinations  annually,  when  pre- 
miums were  "awarded  to  such  of  the  scholars  as  excelled"  and 
monthly  private  examinations,  attended  by  the  subscribers 
and  donors,  were  also  provided,  that  the  supporters  might  wit- 
ness the  "effects  of  their  liberality." 

The  Evangelical  Society. — Persons  belonging  to  different 
congregations  in  Philadelphia,  in  1808,  formed  a  society  at  the 
house  of  Archibald  Alexander  to  promote  "the  knowledge  of 
and  submission  to  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  among  the  poor 
in  this  city  and  vicinity,"1  by  providing  chapels,  school  build- 
ings and  schools,  and  holding  mission  and  other  evangelical 
services. 

Sabbath  meetings  were  held  for  adults  and  for  children  also. 
At  the  latter  services,  children  and  youth  recited  passages  of 
Scripture  which  had  been  committed  to  memory,  together 

1  Constitution  of  the  Evangelical  Society. 


52  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

with  portions  of  hymns  and  questions  from  such  catechisms 
as  the  parents  approved.  These  services  were  open  and  free 
to  all  classes.     The  society  obtained  a  charter  in  1812. 

An  important  fact  in  its  history  was  the  visit  of  Rev.  Robert 
May  (a  missionary  going  to  India  for  the  London  Missionary 
Society),  who  for  a  time  (1811-12)  conducted  a  school,  gave 
monthly  lectures,  and  held  evangelistic  services  in  Philadelphia 
and  vicinity.1 

Mr.  May  was  familiar  with  the  modern  Sunday-school 
methods  of  England,  and  imparted  much  information  con- 
cerning them  to  the  evangelistic  workers  in  Philadelphia.  He 
popularized  in  America  the  system  of  awards  to  children  for 
committing  their  lessons  known  as  "the  ticket  currency," 
which  consisted  of  red  and  blue  and  other  tickets  of  Scripture, 
to  which  were  attached  different  nominal  values,  and  which 
were  given  for  perfect  attendance,  good  conduct  and  for 
excellent  recitations. 

Besides  these  services  which  the  Rev.  Robert  May  rendered 
in  lectures  and  in  holding  religious  services  for  adults  and  for 
children,  he  also  conducted  a  Sunday-school  on  Sundays,  ac- 
cording to  the  modern  methods.  Of  this  school  he  kept  a 
record  himself,  stating  the  order  of  the  exercises,  showing  that 
it  was  on  the  school  system  and  taught  by  voluntary  teachers 
similar  to  the  methods  pursued  in  Sunday-school  now.  (Ap- 
pendix, pp.  444,  445.)  This  record  of  Mr.  May's,  in  his  own 
handwriting,  is  preserved  among  the  archives  of  the  Amer- 
ican Sunday-School  Union. 

Mr.  May  left  so  marked  an  influence  upon  the  Christian 
workers  of  Philadelphia  that  the  writer  of  the  first  report  of  the 
Sunday  and  Adult  School  Union,"  five  or  six  years  later,  er- 
roneously assumed  that  the  first  suggestion  of  Sunday-schools 
in  America  upon  the  modern  plan  was  due  to  the  visit  of  Mr. 
May.  This  claim  cannot,  however,  be  maintained  in  view  of 
other  first-hand  documents.  He  did  propose  the  establish- 
ment of  Sunday-schools  on  the  modern  method  in  a  letter  dated 
July  29, 1811,  and  addressed  to  the  Evangelical  Society.  That 
society  recommended  the  plan,  but  left  the  execution  of  it  to 
its  respective  committees.  Mr.  May  formed  and  conducted 
a  Sunday-school  while  continuing  to  supervise  the  society's 

»  Minutes  of  the  Evangelical  Society,  1811-12. 


THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  IN  AMERICA  53 

evangelistic  services.  But  Sunday-schools,  in  the  modern 
form,  were  begun  in  Philadelphia  and  elsewhere  years  before 
Mr.  May's  visit. 

Thus  there  is  good  authority  for  a  Sunday-school  on  the 
modern  plan  at  Pawtucket,  Rhode  Island,  in  1797,  founded  by 
Mr.  Collier,  then  a  student  in  Brown  University  and  after- 
ward a  Baptist  clergyman  at  Charlestown,  Massachusetts. 
This  school  was  favored  by  Mr.  Slater,  proprietor  of  the  fac- 
tories in  Pawtucket,  and  it  was  attended  by  many  of  the  opera- 
tives in  the  mills.  It  was  for  both  secular  and  religious  instruc- 
tion. A  Sunday-school  on  the  modern  plan  was  also  formed 
about  1803  in  New  York,  by  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Divie  Bethune  and 
also  by  Mrs.  Bethune's  mother,  Mrs.  Isabella  Graham.  As 
early  as  1809,  a  Moral  Society  was  founded  in  Pittsburgh, 
Pennsylvania,  for  the  suppression  of  vice,  reformation  of  man- 
ners, and  to  promote  useful  knowledge.  A  member  of  this 
society  suggested  that  its  objects  could  best  be  carried  out  by  a 
Sunday-school.  Such  a  school  was  opened  in  September  of  that 
year  and  attended  by  about  240  children  and  adults. 

Church  Schools. — Between  1810  and  1815  the  beneficial 
effects  of  this  Sunday-school  movement  began  to  make  an  im- 
pression upon  organized  churches  in  different  places.  Churches 
began  to  allow  Sunday-schools  to  be  held  in  their  church  build- 
ings. But  where  the  schools  were  interdenominational  or 
union,  and  were  reaching  families  attached  to  various  religious 
creeds,  this  was  deemed  unwise,  and,  as  in  the  case  of  the 
Evangelical  Society  above  noted,  the  offer  of  rooms  in  the 
churches  was  declined  on  the  ground  that  it  would  give  the 
school  a  sectarian  bias.  This,  of  course,  would  limit  its  widest 
usefulness,  when  it  professed  to  be  conducted  on  a  union  basis. 
In  other  cases,  when  the  churches  favored  the  movement, 
schools  were  formed  under  distinctive  denominational  super- 
vision. 

Instances  of  this  kind  of  school  are  recorded  previous  to  the 
War  of  1812.  There  was  not,  however,  any  wide-spread  move- 
ment in  the  churches  favoring  schools  in  the  church  until 
the  close  of  that  war.  Then  they  spread  rapidly,  not  merely 
in  centers  and  cities  like  Philadelphia,  New  York,  Boston, 
Baltimore,  Albany,  Charleston,  Pittsburgh,  and  other  large 
towns,  but  throughout  the  country  in  the  smaller  villages  in 


54  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

nearly  all  the  then  well-settled  states.  Organizations  sprang 
up  in  many  places  outside  of  these  great  centers,  as  in  Maine, 
New  Hampshire,  Massachusetts,  Connecticut,  New  York,  New 
Jersey,  and  even  as  far  west  as  Ohio  and  Indiana  and  in  the 
Southern  States.  These  schools,  however,  continued  prac- 
tically to  be  either  independent  of  the  church  or  an  appendage 
to  it,  rather  than  recognized  as  an  organized  part  of  local 
church  work.  This  was  due  largely  to  the  peculiar  sentiment 
prevailing  in  the  churches  themselves.  For  many  in  the 
church  still  questioned  the  wisdom  of  accepting  the  modern 
Sunday-school  as  a  part  of  the  church's  work. 

Hence  Sunday-schools  were  of  necessity  maintained  in 
partial  or  total  independence  of  church  control,  although  often 
held  in  the  churches.  Even  a  generation  or  so  later,  when  the 
church  "came  to  itself,"  it  did  not  apparently  realize  its  mis- 
take, except  to  discover  that  these  schools  in  the  church  should 
properly  be  conducted  and  controlled  by  the  church.  It 
sharply  censured  Sunday-school  workers  for  not  at  first  heartily 
assenting  to  such  control.  The  church  leaders  forgot,  or  were 
entirely  ignorant  of,  the  fact  that  their  predecessors  in  the 
early  history  of  the  Sunday-school  movement  had  not  wel- 
comed the  schools,  and  had  thus  kept  them  outside  for  more 
than  a  generation.  The  schools  had  so  long  been  in  the  habit 
of  managing  their  own  affairs,  and  of  providing  for  their  own 
support,  enforced  by  this  sentiment  of  the  church,  that  it  re- 
quired an  educational  campaign  of  long  continuance  to  undo 
and  correct  this  habit  and,  smoothly  and  satisfactorily,  to 
bring  even  church  Sunday-schools  into  organic  harmony  with 
the  church.  And  the  school  was  long  left  to  pay  its  own  ex- 
penses after  it  came  under  church  control.  This  will  appear 
from  the  discussions  constantly  recurring  in  the  earlier  Sunday- 
school  conventions. 

Why  Organized  Unions. — The  present  generation  needs  to 
be  reminded  of  the  material  and  civil  conditions  of  the  country 
from  1810  to  1820.  The  United  States  had  been  in  a  feverish 
excitement  and  turmoil  incident  to  the  war  (1812-15).  Peace 
had  come,  and  with  it  increased  attention  to  education  and 
religion.  Attention  was  also  given  to  improved  facilities  for 
communication  and  transportation,  neither  of  which  were 
abundant  nor  rapid  at  the  best.     "Swift  packets''  between 


THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  IN  AMERICA  55 

America  and  Europe  were  sailing  vessels  requiring  from  three 
to  five  weeks  for  a  trip.  Postage  on  letters  was  prohibitive  to 
all  except  well-to-do  persons.  The  rates  (there  were  nine 
rates)  were  from  six  cents  for  under  thirty  miles  to  twenty-five 
cents  for  over  four  hundred  and  fifty  miles,  "for  one  piece  of 
paper,"  and  an  extra  rate  for  every  additional  piece  of  paper. 
The  mails  were  usually  carried  by  stage  or  on  horseback.  In- 
formation on  the  progress  of  the  Sunday-school  movement  was 
subject  to  these  serious  handicaps  in  communication  and 
transportation. 

Nevertheless  considerable  information  of  value  had  filtered 
through  the  country  relating  to  this  new  movement  of  Sunday- 
schools  with  voluntary  unpaid  teachers,  and  news  of  the  bene- 
fits which  had  resulted  from  various  successful  efforts  to  plant 
and  sustain  the  same  in  many  different  places.  The  churches 
were  beginning  to  appreciate  the  value  of  this  agency  and, 
though  only  a  minority  was  yet  convinced  of  the  wisdom  of 
adopting  them  as  a  gospel  agency  in  the  churches  themselves, 
their  popularity  was  rapidly  gaining  ground  among  the  laymen. 

The  most  important  forward  movement  in  this  direction 
was  made  in  New  York  City,  stimulated  by  the  practical  ex- 
periments in  Philadelphia.  Several  local  Sunday-school  as- 
sociations were  formed  and  were  vigorously  promoting  the 
cause  in  various  regions  about  Philadelphia  some  time  before 
1816.  New  York  City  claims  the  credit  of  being  the  first  large 
city  to  have  permanent  organized  societies  for  promoting 
Sunday-schools  on  the  voluntary  plan.  In  accord  with  the 
custom  of  the  time,  the  organization  there  was  two-fold;  one 
for  females,  and  another  of  a  general  character  for  males  or 
for  both  sexes. 

Sunday-School  Union  Societies  in  New  York. — Mr.  Eleazer 
Lord  of  New  York  spent  several  months  in  Philadelphia  in  the 
early  part  of  1815.  While  there  his  attention  was  drawn  to  the 
then  novel  subject  of  Sunday-schools.  Two  or  more  of  them, 
with  voluntary,  unpaid  teachers,  he  especially  observed  with 
their  methods  of  procedure;  secured  copies  of  their  books,  and 
studied  how  the  institution  originated  in  England.  Return- 
ing to  New  York  in  the  summer,  he  devoted  the  autumn  and 
early  winter  to  visiting  clergymen  and  prominent  laymen  of 
different  denominations,  calling  attention  to  this  movement, 


56  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

which  was  new  to  them.  He  interested  Dr.  John  M.  Mason, 
who  proposed  a  public  meeting  for  the  formation  of  a  society  to 
promote  the  organization  of  Sunday-schools  on  this  plan. 

Mr.  Lord  found  many  objections  to  this  proposal.  He  ap- 
pears to  have  been  very  diligent  and  tactful  in  meeting  the 
difficulties  thrown  in  his  way,  in  answering  objections,  explain- 
ing methods,  harmonizing  conflicting  views,  allaying  fears,  and 
urging  the  claims  of  the  neglected  children  and  youth  upon  the 
attention  of  Christian  laymen  and  clergymen.  Some  of  the 
objections  are  interesting  to  note.  It  was  pleaded  that  it 
would  be  cruel  to  confine  the  little  ones  (who  had  been  in  school 
during  the  week)  on  Sunday,  when  they  ought  to  be  free  to 
roam  for  their  health.  It  was  urged  that  this  work,  requiring 
in  some  cases  the  teaching  to  read,  would  profane  the  Sabbath 
and  make  it  a  day  of  labor  instead  of  rest;  that  it  would  be  an 
infringement  of  parental  prerogative,  for  God  had  appointed 
the  parents  to  train  the  children;  that  it  would  interfere  with 
the  rights  of  clergymen  who  ought  to  catechize  the  children — 
in  fact,  that  the  whole  scheme  was  impracticable;  suitable 
teachers  could  not  be  found;  it  was  a  novelty  and  it  .would  fall 
to  pieces;  and  "it  would  be  harmful  as  bringing  too  much  of  a 
lay  influence  into  a  work  which  was  strictly  ecclesiastical  and 
clerical."  But  with  patience,  prudence,  kindness,  and  some 
concessions  to  prejudices  and  infirmities  of  good  men,  the  prep- 
aration for  such  a  meeting  was  completed  early  in  the  winter 
of  1815. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Divie  Bethune  of  New  York  spent  part  of 
1801  and  1802  in  England,  and  had  noted  the  progress  of 
Sunday-schools  in  Great  Britain.  Mrs.  Bethune  and  her 
mother,  Mrs.  Isabella  Graham,  had  opened  a  Sunday-school  in 
New  York  in  the  fall  of  1803,  at  the  house  of  Mrs.  Leech,  in 
Mott  Street,  and  carried  it  on  at  their  own  expense.  They 
also  formed  two  other  Sunday-schools  for  poor  children  and, 
later,  founded  a  school  for  adults  in  Greenwich  in  1814,  shortly 
before  Mrs.  Graham  died.  Out  of  these  schools  came  a  plan 
to  form  a  female  society  to  establish  Sabbath  schools.  (Ap- 
pendix, p.  445.) 

Mr.  Lord  and  his  associates  deferred  the  carrying  out  of 
their  proposal  "in  courtesy"  to  this  movement,  so  that  the 
female  union  was  organized  a  month  in  advance  of  the  other 


THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  IN  AMERICA  57 

union.  The  women  in  New  York,  under  the  leadership  of  Mrs. 
Bethune,  had  read  Dr.  Pole's  history  of  adult  schools  and  had 
received  various  publications  in  regard  to  Sunday-school  union 
societies  in  England  from  Mr.  Stephen  Pruest  of  Bristol,  in 
December,  1815.  They  were  also  familiar  with  the  move- 
ment of  the  women  in  Philadelphia,  and  with  the  formation  of 
societies  in  that  city  which,  as  they  gallantly  say  in  their 
report,  had  "outrun  their  sisters  in  New  York  in  this  useful 
work/' l 

Stimulated  by  these  various  facts,  they  proposed  a  union  of 
all  denominations  in  the  city,  which  was  favored  by  a  few.  On 
January  24,  1816,  a  number  of  women  met  in  the  lecture  room 
of  the  Wall  Street  Church,  New  York,  and  held  a  meeting 
again  at  the  same  place  on  January  31st,  which  was  more  fully 
attended,  and  formed  the  "Female  Union  Society  for  the  Pro- 
motion of  Sabbath-Schools,"  the  objects  being:  "To  stimulate 
and  encourage  those  engaged  in  the  education  and  religious 
instruction  of  the  ignorant;  to  improve  the  methods  of  instruc- 
tion; to  promote  the  opening  of  new  schools;  to  unite,  in  Chris- 
tian love,  persons  of  various  denominations  engaged  in  the 
same  honorable  employment."  Among  the  six  rules  adopted 
for  each  school  were:  "The  object  of  the  school  shall  be  the 
education  and  religious  instruction  of  children  not  under  six 
years,  and  female  adults  who  cannot  procure  those  benefits 
during  the  week;"  "No  children  belonging  to  any  other 
Sabbath-school  shall  be  admitted."  Mrs.  Divie  Bethune  was 
chosen  first  directress,  and  Miss  Mumford  secretary,  and  its 
affairs  were  placed  under  the  direction  of  a  committee  of  ten, 
together  with  the  officers.  Before  the  end  of  the  year,  this 
society  reported  under  its  care  21  schools,  250  teachers,  3,163 
scholars.2 

One  week  later,  a  notice  in  The  Commercial  Advertiser  of 
New  York  called  another  meeting  to  be  held  in  the  assembly 
room  of  the  City  Hotel,  on  Broadway  near  Cedar  Street — 
Divie  Bethune  presiding.  The  constitution  and  rules  for  the 
organization  of  the  New  York  Sunday-School  Union  Society 
were  perfected,  and  adopted  at  a  subsequent  meeting  in  the 
same  place,  February  26,  1816.     At  this  meeting,  the  Rev. 

1  First  Annual  Report,  1817,  p.  5. 
J  See  Constitution  and  Rules,  1816. 


58  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

Dr.  John  M.  Mason  presented  "one  of  the  most  powerful  and 
eloquent  and  touching  appeals"  upon  the  purpose  of  the 
society.  The  organization  was  completed  by  the  appointment 
as  president  of  Mr.  Richard  Varick,  who  had  been  for  twelve 
years  (1789-1801)  mayor  of  New  York,  Mr.  Eleazer  Lord  as 
secretary,  with  a  committee  of  twenty-one  members  who,  with 
the  officers,  had  the  management  of  its  work.  The  objects  of 
the  society  were  thus  stated:  "To  encourage  and  assist  those 
engaged  in  the  superintendence  and  instruction  of  Sunday- 
schools;  to  promote  the  establishment  of  new  schools;  to  im- 
prove the  methods  of  teaching;  and  to  unite  .  .  .  per- 
sons of  different  religious  denominations  in  this  benevolent 
undertaking." 

By  the  end  of  the  first  year,  they  reported  twenty-eight 
schools  under  their  care,  with  "no  less  than  3,000  scholars." 
At  first,  they  used  the  lessons  compiled  by  the  London  Sunday- 
School  Union,  comprising  sketches  "of  sacred  history  and  pre- 
cepts and  promises  of  the  Bible." 

The  society  assured  the  public  that  its  work  would  not 
detract  from  the  usefulness  of  the  public  free  schools  of  the 
city,  but  rather  increase  the  attendance  upon  those  schools.1 
This  society  and  the  Female  Society  appear  to  have  worked  in 
perfect  harmony,  one  with  the  other,  for  several  years,  stimu- 
lating greatly  the  formation  and  the  efficiency  of  early  Sunday- 
schools.  The  New  York  Sunday-School  Union  Society  re- 
corded also  a  long  list  of  other  places  (twenty-five  or  more) 
throughout  the  country  in  which  Sunday-schools  had  already 
been  established  at  this  date.  The  London  Union's  lessons 
do  not  appear  to  have  been  used  long;  for  in  the  third  report 
the  committee  are  gratified  by  the  "almost  innumerable  verses, 
chapters  and  even  whole  books  which  have  been  committed  to 
memory  by  the  learners,  and  recited  in  the  schools."  Several 
instances  are  known  of  individual  boys  having  repeated  thirty 
to  forty  chapters,  comprising  entire  Gospels,  at  one  time. 
"Some  schools  report  an  average  of  five  thousand  verses  of 
Scripture  committed  per  quarter  or  20,000  in  the  course  of 
the  year,  besides  hymns,  sketches  of  sacred  history,  and  or- 
dinary lessons."  No  wonder  that  this  crowding  of  the  memory 
and  the  memorizing  of  such  a  large  number  of  verses  and 

»  First  Report,  p.  15. 


THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  IN  AMERICA  59 

hymns  became  a  hobby,  producing,  as  some  physicians  alleged, 
the  disease  called  hydrocephalus  (water  on  the  brain). 

While  this  objection  to  the  craze  for  memorizing  a  large 
number  of  verses  was  very  general,  there  were  evidently  some 
notable  exceptions.  For  so  sane  and  scholarly  a  man  as  Rev. 
Dr.  James  W.  Alexander  testifies,  when  advanced  in  life,  "that 
for  one  verse  that  I  know  by  heart,  I  wish  I  knew  a  hundred." 
He  was  a  "learner"  in  a  Sunday-school  in  the  days  when  mem- 
orizing was  a  habit,  that  is,  from  1812  to  1816.  Looking  back, 
after  forty  years,  upon  this  period,  he  gives  it  as  his  sober 
judgment  "that  if  a  pupil  must  forego  one  or  the  other — the 
explanation  of  the  meaning  by  question  and  answer  or  the 
possession  of  a  text  in  his  memory  verbatim — he  had  better 
let  go  the  former."  l  He  evidently  was  not  afraid  of  "water  on 
the  brain"  in  consequence  of  too  much  memorizing  of  Scrip- 
ture! 

Some  of  the  foremost  educators,  judges,  and  rulers  of  the 
country  were  at  one  time  or  another  interested  in  Sunday- 
school  work  through  the  New  York  Union  Society  and,  after  a 
dozen  years  or  more,  it  absorbed  the  Female  Society,  carrying 
forward  the  united  work  in  the  city  with  great  vigor  for  more 
than  fifty  years.  Among  the  many  forward  movements 
which  it  had  the  honor  to  suggest,  were  "A  system  of  select 
uniform  lessons,"  with  Judson's  Questions  thereon,  which  it 
firmly  claims  "did  more  for  Sunday-school  efficiency  than  can 
be  calculated."  It  was  foremost  in  the  introduction  of 
Sunday-school  circulating  libraries.  It  was  one  of  the  earliest 
in  the  field  (under  Father  Seton)  for  the  organization  of  graded 
infant  schools.  It  was  conspicuous  for  having  public  examina- 
tions of  scholars  and  of  teachers,  and  of  lectures  and  meetings 
for  teachers.  It  threw  all  its  influence  in  favor  of  a  special 
Sunday-school  hymnology  and  suitable  music  for  children. 
It  early  suggested  a  national  Sunday-School  Union. 

The  New  York  Female  Sunday-School  Union  Society  be- 
came an  auxiliary  to  the  Sunday  and  Adult  School  Union,  and 
thus  an  integral  part  of  the  national  society,  before  the  Sunday 
and  Adult  School  Union  changed  its  name  to  the  American 
Sunday-School  Union  in  1824.  It  is  significant  also  that  the 
New  York  (Male)  Sunday-School  Union  Society  later  became 

1  James  W.  Alexander,  American  Sunday  School,  p.  119. 


60  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

auxiliary  to  the  same  union.  Thus  New  York  and  Philadel- 
phia workers  were  closely  interlocked  in  laying  the  foundations 
of  this  national  enterprise.1 

Similar  combinations  of  Sunday-schools  in  other  centers  than 
Philadelphia  and  New  York  were  urged  and  completed  with 
more  or  less  success,  as  in  Boston,  Hartford  and  New  Haven, 
Albany,  Utica,  Princeton,  Baltimore,  Charleston,  Columbia 
and  Pittsburgh. 

A  Larger  Union. — The  rapid  multiplication  of  schools  and  of 
local  combinations  of  schools  created  a  desire  for  a  closer  bond 
of  union.2  The  desire  for  some  general  medium  of  communica- 
tion— some  central  bureau  of  information  upon  methods,  prog- 
ress and  improvement  of  Sunday-schools — began  to  appear 
in  various  parts  of  the  country.  At  first  this  conception  was 
dim  and  vague,  but  it  gradually  took  on  definite  form  and 
found  varied  ways  of  expression  through  different  workers.  It 
was  early  discussed  by  the  educators  and  supporters  of  Sunday- 
schools  in  Philadelphia  and  vicinity.  The  plan  of  schools 
associating  together  for  their  common  improvement  and  prog- 
ress seems  to  have  been  specially  promoted  in  that  city.  It 
was  rapidly  spreading,  also,  in  New  York  and  elsewhere,  lead- 
ing to  the  formation  of  the  two  societies  already  described. 
The  zealous  efforts  of  the  workers  in  Philadelphia,  which  had  so 
stirred  the  mind  of  Eleazer  Lord,  had  earlier  worked  out  the 
formation  of  a  number  of  smaller  organizations  or  co-operative 
school  societies  "on  such  principles  as  would  not  interfere  with 
the  actual  independence  of  the  individual  societies"  or  schools. 
The  call  became  strong  for  a  wide  co-operation  in  the  common 
cause.  This  feeling  found  public  expression,  so  far  as  the 
records  show,  among  the  members  of  the  "Male  Adult  Associa- 
tion" of  1815,  in  Philadelphia.  Having  considered  this  sub- 
ject, that  association  appointed  a  committee  "to  confer  with 
the  different  Sunday  and  Adult  School  Societies  in  the  city  and 
suburbs  to  ascertain  their  views  upon  the  expediency  of  form- 
ing a  general  union  society." 

Sunday  and  Adult  School  Union. — The  first  form  suggested 
for  this  union  or  association  was  stated  in  a  preamble  and  thir- 
teen articles,  and  bears  the  official  signature  of  representatives 

1  See  Society  Reports,  New  York  Sunday-School  Union,  1S17  to  1866;  also  Isaac  Ferris, 
Semi-Centennial,   1866. 

1  For  a  list  of  these  associations  and  schools,  see  Appendix,  pp.  447-451, 


THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  IN  AMERICA  61 

from  at  least  ten  local  societies.  Two  of  the  representatives 
were  women,  besides  a  male  representative  from  a  "female 
association.' '  While  the  "Adult  School  Association"  promptly 
began  to  foster  and  found  schools,  its  members  appear  also  to 
have  industriously  discussed  and  considered  making  the  society 
more  compact,  and  giving  it  a  broader  outlook  and  field  of 
operation.  From  the  idea  of  an  "Association  of  Philadelphia" 
managed  by  an  "acting  committee,"  the  proposition  was  soon 
enlarged  to  that  of  a  general  union,  embracing  all  Sunday- 
schools.  This  was  probably  due  in  part  to  Mr.  Divie  Bethune 
of  the  New  York  Sunday-School  Union  Society  just  formed, 
who  attended  one  of  the  three  meetings  held  in  Philadelphia 
in  the  month  of  May  to  perfect  the  organization  of  the  Sunday 
and  Adult  School  Union.  He  described  the  plans,  benefits, 
and  success  of  the  New  York  society  at  some  length.  Changes 
were  also  doubtless  further  due  to  the  popular  sentiment  in 
favor  of  unpaid  teachers  and  of  introducing  the  Sunday-school 
into  the  churches.  Rapid  progress  was  made  along  these  lines, 
which  British  workers  observed,  and  credited  to  the  fact  that 
America  had  the  benefit  of  England's  experiments  and  ex- 
periences, and  therefore  formed  organizations  upon  a  "superior 
plan." 

During  May,  1817,  the  constitution  of  the  Union  was  fre- 
quently amended,  copies  were  ordered  to  be  printed,  and  the 
Society  adjourned  to  meet  at  the  call  of  the  "acting  committee." 
The  next  recorded  meeting  was  a  delegated  one,  attended  by 
representatives  of  eleven  Sunday-school  associations  and 
societies  of  different  denominations,  and  held  at  the  northwest 
corner  of  Fourth  and  Vine  Streets,  Philadelphia.  This  meeting 
elected  Samuel  J.  Robbins,  President;  E.  W.  Seeley,  Vice- 
President;  Joseph  Nagel,  Second  Vice-President;  John  P. 
Bankson,  Corresponding  Secretary;  James  Henderson,  Record- 
ing Secretary;  Hugh  de  Haven,  Jr.,  Treasurer.  There  were 
no  representatives  from  the  Society  of  Friends,  nor  were  there 
any  clergymen  present  at  any  of  these  meetings,  so  far  as  the 
records  show.  It  was  clearly  a  movement  exclusively  by  the 
laity.  Membership  in  the  society  was  limited  to  those  who 
signed  the  constitution,  "and  acknowledge  the  leading  doctrines 
of  the  Bible."  » 

1  Article  I,  Constitution. 


02  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

Why  workers  like  Bishop  White  and  the  Friends  who  were 
actively  interested  in  the  First  Day  Society  failed  to  take  part 
in  the  organization  of  this  Union  for  sustaining  Sunday-schools 
by  voluntary  teaching  is  not  definitely  stated.  Some  infer 
from  the  records  that  they  favored  segregated  church  schools, 
or  schools  with  paid  teachers,  and  were  not  favorable  to  mixed 
schools  on  the  new  plan  for  all  children,  including  those  within 
and  outside  of  families  attached  to  the  church.  Whatever 
may  have  been  the  reason  for  their  failing  to  share  in  the 
formation  of  this  new  union,  it  is  a  fact  that  Bishop  White  was 
foremost  in  forming  the  Philadelphia  Protestant  Episcopal 
Sunday  and  Adult  Society  late  in  that  year.  One  ecclesiastical 
historian  says  that  this  society  "did  not  accomplish  very 
much."  l  But  it  had  periods  of  singular  activity,  not  only  in 
controversy  respecting  methods,  but  also  in  developing  indi- 
vidual workers.  It  had  a  somewhat  checkered  career.  A 
generation  later  came  "The  American  Church  Sunday-School 
Institute." 

The  early  history  of  this  movement  indicates  divided  views 
among  the  ecclesiastics  and  the  clergymen.  Some  were 
in  full  sympathy  with  the  new  movement,  others  stood  aloof 
from  it  or  were  in  doubt  of  it.  This  appears  also  from  the  fact 
that  the  committee  of  the  Sunday  and  Adult  School  Union 
did  not  find  it  easy  to  secure  a  minister  of  ability  to  give  an 
address  or  discourse  on  the  purpose  and  objects  of  the  new 
Society,  by  which  the  members  desired  to  enlist  the  public  in 
the  cause.  Finally  one  was  secured  and  the  Society  also  pre- 
sented an  address  to  the  public  in  a  circular  letter.  The  pre- 
sentation of  its  purpose  to  the  public  served  to  clarify  the  con- 
ceptions of  the  members  themselves  regarding  the  work. 
This  soon  found  an  expression  in  their  changed  constitution, 
and  in  the  introduction  of  features  to  promote  the  Society's 
efficiency  as  well  as  economy.  After  repeated  discussions  and 
changes,  and  in  anticipation  of  securing  an  act  of  incorporation 
which  was  proposed,  the  direction  of  the  association  or  union 
(for  both  terms  were  popularly  applied  to  it  at  first)  was  placed 
under  a  "board  of  twelve  managers,"  elected  annually  by  bal- 
lot, and  of  "two  representatives  from  each  school  society."     It 

1  Rev.  Oscar  S.  Michael,  The  Sunday-School  in  the  Development  of  the  American  Church, 


PRESIDENTS 


Hon.  William  Strong,  1882-95 


Morris  K.  Jesup.  1896-1908. 


THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  IN  AMERICA  63 

was  also  stipulated  that  "clergymen  of  different  denomina- 
tions, whose  school  societies  were  attached  to  the  Union,  were 
honorary  members  with  the  right  to  vote."  While  the  objects 
of  the  Society  remained  substantially  unchanged,  the  internal 
structure  was  modified  in  some  respects.  As  indicating  a  wider 
outlook,  the  title  of  the  Society  was  changed  from  that  of  the 
"Association  of  Philadelphia"  to  the  "Sunday  and  Adult 
School  Union."  Philadelphia  was  recognized  as  the  head- 
quarters, but  the  Union's  operations  were  to  extend  "to  towns 
and  villages  in  the  country,"  there  being,  apparently,  no  limit 
to  its  field  in  this  respect.  The  name  Philadelphia  was  not  in 
the  title  in  the  constitution  nor  in  the  charter. 

Under  the  amended  constitution,  a  new  election  was  ordered 
in  December,  1817,  and  twelve  managers  were  chosen  by  ballot 
out  of  thirty-six  persons  who  were  nominated.  This  was  also 
a  delegated  meeting,  representatives  being  present  from  eleven 
associations  and  societies.  In  addition  to  these  twelve  man- 
agers, there  were  also  "two  representatives  from  each  school 
society." 

At  the  next  meeting  of  the  managers  in  January,  1818,  the 
officers  elected  by  ballot  were:  Alexander  Henry,  President; 
John  Claxton,  John  Welch,  Edward  Thompson  and  Thomas 
Latimer,  Vice-Presidents;  John  P.  Bankson,  Corresponding 
Secretary;  John  C.  Pechin,  Recording  Secretary;  and  Hugh  de 
Haven,  Jr.,  Treasurer.  This  meeting  was  held  in  Van  Pelt's 
schoolroom.  The  president  of  the  late  organization,  Mr. 
Robbins,  was  present  and  stated  the  object  of  the  meeting,  and 
read  the  revised  constitution.  The  delegates  presented  their 
certificates.  Three  additional  Sunday-school  associations 
were  admitted  before  the  close  of  the  meeting,  so  that  there 
were  fourteen  associations  and  societies  of  different  denomina- 
tions represented  in  revising  and  perfecting  the  constitution  of 
the  Society,  including  the  change  of  name  from  "Association" 
to  "Union."  An  act  of  incorporation  was  to  be  applied  for  by 
a  committee.  The  recording  secretary  was  instructed  "to 
call  upon  the  relatives  of  the  late  secretary  to  obtain  such 
books  and  papers  belonging  to  this  Society  as  may  have  been 
in  his  possession,  and  to  record  the  minutes  of  all  the  meetings 
of  the  Society  which  have  not  been  entered."1    The  successive 

1  Minutes,  January  14,  1818. 


64  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

and  varying  acts  of  the  Society  are  confusing  to  the  reader, 
though  the  records  appear  to  have  been  written  up  with  reason- 
able accuracy.  The  confusion  is  due,  largely,  to  the  uncer- 
tainty of  all  who  were  feeling  their  way  cautiously  to  the 
formation  of  a  new  institution. 

Seven  Years  of  Formative  Work. — Having  a  wider  outlook 
and  field  of  operations  and  having  made  the  organization  more 
compact  by  the  change  of  name  from  "Association"  to  "Union," 
the  Sunday  and  Adult  School  Union  addressed  itself  vigorously 
to  its  real  mission.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Parker,  a  clerical  member  of 
the  Society,  speaking  at  its  first  anniversary,  affirmed:  "This 
Union,  however,  but  recently  formed,  is  fast  advancing  to  the 
full  attainment  of  all  that  it  originally  proposed.  It  has  oc- 
casioned the  establishment  of  some  schools  and  it  has  given  a 
powerful  impulse  to  others;  it  has  commenced  printing  tracts, 
spelling  books,  tickets,  alphabetical  cards,  and  other  items. 
The  advantages  of  its  consolidated  funds,  its  combined  zeal 
and  its  united  wisdom  have  clearly  appeared."  He  added, 
"The  primitive  spirit  of  harmony  and  union  is  reviving;  and  I 
believe  that  missionary  societies,  Bible  societies,  and  Sabbath- 
school  societies  are  to  be  honorably  instrumental  in  bringing 
about  that  enlarged,  cheerful  and  universal  co-operation  in  the 
work  of  the  Lord,  which  is  so  devoutly  to  be  wished."  Simi- 
lar sentiments  were  expressed  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Staughton,  and 
also  by  Mr.  Bayard  of  Princeton,  New  Jersey,  who  asserted 
that  the  efforts  and  results  exhibited  in  the  report  of  the  Union 
proved  "the  happy  influence  which  Sunday-schools  exert  on  the 
intellect,  the  morals,  and  the  happiness  of  society;  and  it  will 
be  the  germ  of  future  and  progressive  good  to  places  and  periods 
now  unknown."  Dr.  Staughton  rejoiced  that  Sabbath-school 
labors  were  gratuitous;  that  "to  combine  for  such  instruction 
is  the  duty  obvious  to  everyone,"  and  generous  recognition 
was  made  of  the  work  of  women  in  missionary  and  Bible  insti- 
tutions who  were  ready  "to  instruct  the  ignorant  and  clothe  the 
impoverished." 

Mr.  Bayard  also  announced  his  firm  conviction  that  "Sun- 
day-schools are  in  the  order  of  Providence,"  and  that  "the 
invention  of  stereotype  plates,  the  establishment  of  auxiliary 
institutions  of  Lancastrian  schools,  and  more  particularly  of 
Sunday-schools,  have  most  efficiently  contributed  to  diffuse  the 


THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  IN  AMERICA  65 

cheering  beams  of  revealed  truth  through  the  most  distant 
regions  of  the  globe." 

With  stronger  emphasis,  the  benefits  and  advantages  of  the 
Union  were  recognized  in  1820,  in  an  address  by  the  Rev.  Dr. 
John  H.  Rice,  of  Virginia,  who  eloquently  declared,  "It  is 
delightful  to  witness  the  healing  of  those  divisions,  which  have 
so  long  been  the  reproach  of  the  Christian  name,  and  have  so 
deeply  injured  the  best  interests  of  the  Christian  cause." 
"Your  report  exhibits,"  he  said  of  the  Union,  "the  operations 
of  a  cheap,  extensive  and  efficient  charity.  When  I  say  a 
cheap  charity,  I  mean  to  affirm  that  the  sum  of  money  expended 
on  Sabbath-schools  does,  in  this  way,  purchase  a  greater 
amount  of  good  than  can  be  procured,  perhaps,  in  any  other 
way  whatever."  "I  may  state  the  sum  expended  last  year  at 
about  $3,000,  while  the  number  of  pupils  in  your  various 
schools  is  nearly  20,000.  This  makes  the  annual  expense  of 
each  scholar  less  than  twenty  cents.  In  what  other  way  could 
an  equal  amount  of  good  be  effected  with  no  greater  expendi- 
ture?"    "But  it  is  also  a  most  extensive  charity." 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Ezra  S.  Ely  also  added  his  testimony  in  com- 
mendation of  the  principles  of  the  Union,  "When  the  Pine 
Street  Sabbath-School  Association  was  formed,  there  were  but 
three  or  four  communicants  among  the  teachers;  but  now' all, 
except  one,  are  professors  of  the  religion  of  Jesus."  The  Rev. 
Dr.  J.  J.  Janeway  and  the  Rev.  Gregory  Townsend  Bedell, 
D.  D.,  in  like  manner,  heartily  commended  the  work  of  Sunday- 
school  teachers  and  of  the  Union. 

The  same  year,  British  workers,  through  the  London 
Sunday-School  Union,  voiced  their  general  surprise  at  the 
growth  of  the  work  in  America.  The  London  Union,  in  1820, 
declared : 

In  the  United  States  of  America  the  progress  of  Sunday-schools 
has  been  truly  astonishing.  The  friends  of  education  there  had 
not  to  work  their  way  through  such  difficulties  as  the  early  pro- 
moters of  Sunday-schools  in  England.  They  possessed  the  ad- 
vantage of  British  experience;  they  at  once  perceived  the  great 
benefit  of  union,  and  by  commencing  on  this  superior  plan  they 
have  made  more  rapid  progress  than  in  England,  considering  the 
comparatively  short  time  in  which  they  have  been  established. 
Sunday-schools  are  formed  in  almost  every  considerable  town 
and  village.  They  have  extended  to  the  savages  and  the 
Indian  tribes,  and  have  spread  particularly  among  the  blacks.1 
1  Report  London  Sunday-School  Union,  1820,  Sunday-school  Repository,  Vol.  IV,  p.  435. 


6G  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

American  readers  of  today  may  share  in  the  astonishment  of 
the  English  workers  that  for  seven  years  the  Sunday  and 
Adult  School  Union  should  begin  each  report  with  joyous 
notes  of  prosperity.  At  first  it  had  about  a  dozen  affiliated 
associations,  but  closed  its  first  year  with  fourfold  that  number 
and,  by  the  end  of  the  seventh  year,  it  enrolled  over  720 
schools,  associations  or  societies,  located  in  seventeen  different 
states,  with  over  55,000  members  connected  with  its  work 
through  auxiliaries.  The  progress  of  the  Society  in  the  seven 
years  is  indicated  by  the  following  summary  from  its  annual 
reports.  This  table  shows  that  from  having  a  few  associations 
in  one  city  and  its  suburbs,  it  speedily  reached  national  pro- 
portions and  attained  a  national  reputation : 

Schools.  Teachers.  Scholars. 

1817-18 43  556  5,970 

1818-19 129  1,431  12,306 

1819-20 227  2,653  19,481 

1820-21 313  3,724  24,218 

1821-22 402  4,197  31,297 

1822-23 513  5,012  37,993 

1823-24 723  7,300  49,619 

Its  Literature  and  Results. — The  Union  was  foremost  among 
the  agencies  issuing  suitable  publications  for  Sunday-schools, 
beginning  with  a  small  volume  entitled  Little  Henry  and  His 
Bearer.  In  the  second  year,  it  issued  over  50,000  copies  of 
books,  including  10,000  Sunday-school  hymn  books,  besides 
10,000  alphabet  cards,  10,000  copies  of  the  Ten  Command- 
ments, and  450,000  blue  and  red  Scripture  tickets.  In  its 
fifth  year,  it  issued  about  90,000  books,  besides  25,000  hymn 
books,  8,000  school  books,  173,000  tracts,  and  500,000  blue 
and  red  Scripture  tickets.  This  list  of  publications  steadily 
increased  in  variety  and  in  numbers.  The  Society  aimed 
to  supply  every  kind  of  Sunday-school  requisites  required 
for  the  efficient  conduct  of  the  schools.  It  also  provided 
a  suitable  literature  for  distribution  among  the  families  who 
were  without,  or  had  a  scant  supply  of,  religious  reading. 
So  great  was  its  activity  that  the  Religious  Tract  Society  of 
Philadelphia  voluntarily  handed  over  its  work,  influence,  and 
publications  to  the  Union,  which  also  distributed  pamphlets 
and  tracts  and  other  religious  literature  suited  for  individuals 
and  families. 


THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  IN  AMERICA  67 

In  their  activities  for  extending  Sunday-schools  and  pro- 
viding them  with  literature,  the  managers  of  the  Union  were 
especially  careful  to  note  how  far  these  means  attained  the 
end  at  which  the  Union  really  aimed — the  making  of  Christian 
character.  Repeatedly,  year  by  year,  they  record  revivals  in 
different  portions  of  the  country,  reporting  remarkable  spirit- 
ual results  in  the  number  of  teachers  and  learners  who  were  led 
to  profess  their  faith  in  Jesus  Christ  and  were  added  to  the 
various  local  churches  in  the  vicinity  of  the  schools.  They 
note  with  joy  the  marked  moral  and  religious  improvement  in 
many  communities.  A  fair  specimen  of  these  reports  is  this 
one,  cited  from  a  section  in  New  Jersey: 

No  sooner  were  schools  commenced  in  destitute  places  than 
a  change  was  visible  in  the  morals  of  the  children  and  the  in- 
habitants of  the  neighborhood.  Profane  swearing,  intemper- 
ance, and  Sabbath  breaking,  which  formerly  prevailed  to  an 
alarming  extent,  in  a  great  measure  ceased.  .  .  .  This  was  not 
all;  from  a  number  of  reports  of  schools  belonging  to  this 
Union,  it  appeared  that  many  teachers  and  scholars  have  been 
made  the  recipients  of  divine  and  saving  grace. 

Statements  of  a  similar  character  are  found  on  almost  every 
page  of  the  reports  from  the  700  auxiliary  societies  and  schools 
connected  with  the  Sunday  and  Adult  School  Union. 

Broadened  Service. — It  is  worthy  of  note  that  the  leaders  in 
the  Sunday  and  Adult  School  Union  did  not  limit  its  mission 
to  the  founding  and  fostering  of  Sunday-schools.  The  man- 
agers appointed  a  special  committee  on  the  "suppression  of 
vice  and  immorality,"  to  investigate  the  prevalence  of  those 
evils  and  to  co-operate  with  existing  agencies  in  proposing  new 
methods  for  more  effective  restraint  and  suppression.1  This 
committee  made  frequent  reports  of  its  work  and  of  its  success. 
The  Union  also  called  attention  to  the  profanation  of  the 
Sabbath  and  appointed  a  committee  to  enlist  the  co-operation 
of  the  evangelical  societies  and  other  institutions  for  promoting 
better  observance  of  the  Sabbath  Day.2 

As  an  indication  of  its  wider  outlook  in  the  distribution  of 
the  Scriptures,  as  well  as  in  the  teaching  of  them,  the  Board 
asserted:  "It  is  the  primary  object  of  this  Society  to  con- 
tribute towards  the  establishment  of  Sunday-schools  through- 
out the  country"     Hence  it  placed  various  publications  at  the 

1  Minutes,  February,  1819,  and  May,  1820.  *  Minutes,  December  3,  1818,  ff. 


68  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

disposal  of  Mr.  Bacon,  who  was  agent  for  the  Bible  Society, 
suggesting  that  he  might  distribute  them  in  families  and  com- 
munities. He  thus  became  a  missionary  agent  of  the  Union, 
as  well  as  of  the  Bible  Society  of  Pennsylvania.1  The  managers 
said:  "if  we  are  enabled  to  continue  the  active  exertions  of  a 
faithful  agent,  an  abundant  harvest  may  be  gathered." 

For  the  greater  efficiency  of  the  work,  the  Union  arranged  to 
employ  Robert  Piggot  as  depository  agent,  paying  him  at  the 
rate  of  $350  a  year  for  a  room  for  the  depository,  and  for  so 
much  of  his  time  as  might  be  required  to  attend  to  the  duties 
of  the  agency.2 

The  managers  of  the  Union  conceived  that  their  mission 
was  as  broad  as  the  command  of  the  Master  to  every  creature 
of  whatever  race,  color,  or  country.  This  is  indicated  by  the 
delight  with  which  they  speak  of  thirteen  schools  for  the  in- 
struction of  Indian  children.  Three  of  these  were  in  New  York 
state,  four  in  the  Cherokee  nation,  one  among  the  Choctaws, 
two  among  the  Chickasaws,  one  in  Indiana,  two  in  Arkansas 
and  one  in  Missouri.3 

From  the  first  the  Union  had  in  its  connection  schools  for 
the  education  of  the  negroes.  A  further  evidence  of  the 
breadth  of  its  mission  is  given  in  its  efforts  to  extend  the  ad- 
vantages of  the  Sunday-school  to  the  rich  as  well  as  to  the 
poor.     They  said: 

Your  Board  has  witnessed  with  regret  the  prevalence  of  an 
erroneous  sentiment  respecting  the  principles  of  Sunday-schools. 
It  is  this — that  they  are  intended  only  for  the  poor.  This  has 
arisen  from  the  improper  application  of  the  principles  of  gratu- 
itous instruction.  These  schools  are  intended  as  much  for  the 
affluent  as  the  indigent.  The  great  object  is  religious  instruc- 
tion; it  is,  indeed,  given  without  money  and  without  price — is 
it,  therefore,  of  no  value  to  those  who  have  the  means  and  who, 
if  it  were  vendible,  would  secure  it  by  purchase? 

First  Sunday-School  Missionary. — Finding  that  voluntary 
representatives  and  workers  required  to  be  supplemented 
by  an  intelligent  and  more  expert  worker,  they  employed,  in 
1821,  the  Rev.  William  C.  Blair  as  Sunday-school  missionary. 
He  traveled  about  2,500  miles,  mostly  on  horseback,  visiting 
six  states,  from  Pennsylvania  to  North  Carolina,  founding 

i  Minutes,  September,  1819.  2  Minutes,  June,  1819. 

»  Fifth  Report  of  the  Sunday  and  Adult  School  Union,  1822,  p.  8. 


THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  IN  AMERICA  69 

sixty-one  Sunday-schools,  visiting  thirty-five  others,  reviving 
twenty,  and  establishing  six  tract  societies  and  four  adult 
schools  within  one  year.  He  began  this  work  August  4,  1821, 
going  in  company  with  the  treasurer  of  the  Union  on  his  first 
tour.  Another  friend  journeyed  with  him  for  several  weeks, 
but  most  of  his  work  was  accomplished  alone.  He  made  a  full 
report  of  his  labors,  expressing  his  great  regret  that  owing  to 
temporary  illness  he  could  not  accomplish  more  and  could  not 
pass  more  leisurely  through  different  counties  of  these  states 
and  establish  schools  in  every  neighborhood.  He  closed  with 
this  significant  statement,  "There  ought  to  be  eight  or  ten 
Sunday-school  missionaries  in  every  state."1 

The  labors  of  this  first  missionary  were  so  satisfactory  that 
the  Society  adopted  paid  missionary  workers  as  a  permanent 
agency.  Thus  in  May,  1824,  it  states :  "From  former  experience 
of  the  beneficial  effects  of  the  labors  of  Sunday-school  mission- 
aries, the  managers  have  employed  during  the  last  year  two 
missionaries;  the  Rev.  Timothy  Alden,  President  of  Allegheny 
College,  and  Mr.  M.  A.  Remley."  President  Alden  rendered 
services  for  that  year  and  the  next  with  very  beneficial  results, 
reporting  inFebruary,  1824,  that  he  had  formed  Sabbath-schools 
in  all  directions,  having  added  to  the  number  connected  with 
the  Union  forty-seven,  "mostly  new  schools,  established  where 
such  institutions  had  never  before  existed."  He  adds,  "More 
than  a  thousand  children  and  adults  (and  of  the  latter  several 
are  married  women)  are  now  receiving  instruction  in  these  little 
seminaries  of  gospel  science."2  He  notes  the  astonishing 
achievements  of  "two  little  girls,  not  nine  years  old,  who  in 
the  course  of  one  year  have  recited  the  whole  of  the  New 
Testament — and  many  have  recited  several  thousand  verses 
each." 

Mr.  John  P.  Bankson,  corresponding  secretary  of  the 
Union,  resigned  in  January,  1820,  partly  on  account  of  ill  health, 
but  mainly  because  he  wished  to  devote  his  life  to  missions  in 
Africa,  where  he  died  soon  after.  A  year  before  his  resignation, 
when  the  Union's  report  for  May,  1819,  had  been  completed, 
Mr.  Bankson  requested  the  privilege  of  adding  this  clause, 
"That  zealous  minister  of  Christ  and  faithful  friend  of  Sunday- 

1  Fifth  Report  of  the  Sunday  and  Adult  School  Union,  1822,  pp.  59,  60. 
*  Seventh  Report  of  the  Sunday  and  Adult  School  Union,  1824,  p.  67. 


70  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

school  children,  who  had  the  honor  of  introducing  the  present  sys- 
tem of  Sunday-schools  into  the  city  of  Philadelphia  and  even  into 
the  United  States,  has  finished  his  labors  and  gone  to  his  re- 
ward: the  Rev.  Robert  May  is  dead."  Without  investigating 
the  accuracy  of  this  statement  of  Mr.  Bankson,  the  Board  ad- 
mitted the  clause  in  italics  into  its  report.  There  is  abundant 
evidence  in  other  records  to  show  that  Mr.  Bankson  was  mis- 
informed, and  that  Sunday-schools  on  the  "present  system'' 
existed  in  the  United  States,  and  even  in  Philadelphia,  long 
before  the  visit  of  Mr.  May  in  1811.  The  inaccuracy  of  this 
statement  has  been  pointed  out  many  times,  and  it  has  been 
proved  to  be  erroneous  by  succeeding,  as  well  as  preceding, 
records  and  narratives  relating  to  the  early  history  of  the 
Sunday-school  movement  in  the  United  States. 

The  activity  of  the  Sunday  and  Adult  School  Union  created 
a  desire  for  a  name  which  would  indicate  the  national  co-opera- 
tion among  Sunday-schools  which  already  existed  in  fact. 
This  found  frequent  expression  in  various  parts  of  the  country 
between  1818  and  1823.  The  way  was  providentially  pre- 
pared for  it  in  a  remarkable  manner.  Co-operation  of  local 
unions  in  various  centers  of  the  country  further  promoted  the 
idea.  Organizations  in  England,  Scotland  and  Ireland  gave 
increased  definiteness  to  the  conception  of  a  union  national 
in  name  as  well  as  in  fact. 

Spirit  of  Christian  Unity. — The  beneficent  influences  of 
Christian  unity  were  not  wanting  in  Philadelphia,  even  in  the 
seventeenth  century.  A  church  was  organized  in  1698,  pre- 
ceding the  First  Presbyterian  Church  on  Washington  Square 
— the  earlier  church  having  been  born  in  a  spirit  of  Christian 
brotherhood.  Foremost  pastors  and  educators  noted  the  grow- 
ing unity  among  Christians,  so  happily  voiced  by  Dr.  Rice 
of  Virginia,  already  quoted.  This  found  voice  in  a  definite  sug- 
gestion for  a  union  national  in  name  by  the  New  York  Male 
Sunday-School  Union,  in  1820.  In  its  annual  report,  it 
affirmed  that  there  was  a  growing  harmony  among  Christians 
and  Sunday-school  workers,  and  pointed  to  the  magnitude  of 
the  work  accomplished  by  the  Sunday  and  Adult  School  Union 
within  three  years,  in  support  of  its  statement  and  to  local 
unions  in  New  York,  Baltimore,  and  other  cities  of  America. 
The  proposal  was  in  this  forceful  language: 


THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  IN  AMERICA  71 

Your  committee  cannot  forbear  intimating  the  great  benefit 
which  would  result  from  a  union  embracing  all  the  Sunday- 
schools  of  the  United  States,  on  a  plan  in  some  respects  similar 
to  the  American  Bible  Society.  Equally  catholic  in  its  princi- 
ples and  simple  in  its  design,  the  Sunday-school  system  would 
be  equally  benefited  by  such  a  union.  The  vast  amount  of 
facts  and  information  which  could  then  be  embodied  with 
precision,  and  presented  annually  to  the  public,  would  afford 
a  powerful  and  irresistible  appeal  to  their  patronage  and  sup- 
port. Your  committee  do  not  perceive  that  any  serious  ob- 
stacle exists  to  prevent  the  prosecution  of  this  enlarged  plan, 
and  we  would  rejoice  if  this  hint  should  lead  to  the  opening  of 
immediate  correspondence  with  the  principal  societies  of  the 
United  States  for  this  purpose. 

After  pointing  out  some  of  the  achievements  of  the  London 
and  Irish  Sunday-School  Unions,  it  presented  this  strong 
economic  argument  in  favor  of  its  proposal: 

In  addition  to  the  strength  and  consequent  superior  efficiency 
of  combined  efforts,  your  committee  will  add  one  other  result 
which  they  hope  will  have  its  full  weight  upon  all  such  as  have 
hitherto,  with  the  most  upright  intentions,  opposed  a  general 
union:  that  is,  the  great  saving  of  expense.  On  the  disjointed 
plan,  the  expenditure  is  twice,  in  some  cases  three  times,  as 
much  as  it  would  be  were  the  funds  of  all  united.  The  cost  of 
books,  it  is  well  known,  is  proportionately  less  as  the  number 
of  copies  is  increased.  That  which  would  cost  six  cents  in  a 
single  society  may  be  had  for  two  or,  at  most,  three  cents,  in 
a  large  edition,  such  as  a  general  union  would  require.  And 
when  we  consider  the  increased  power  which  this  gives  for  ex- 
tending the  blessiDgs  of  the  system,  it  is  believed  that  no  other 
argument  will  be  wanted  to  convince  the  candid,  liberal,  and 
humane  mind  of  the  utility  of  such  a  union  as  your  committee 
have  deemed  it  their  duty  to  recommend.1 

Later  the  New  York  workers  recognized  that  the  Sunday  and 
Adult  School  Union  had  become  national  in  scope,  and  re- 
quired a  change  in  name,  and  for  other  unions  to  become  aux- 
iliary, to  be  what  they  had  outlined  in  their  recommendation. 
And  this  was  done. 

Nor  was  the  New  York  Male  Sunday-School  Union  alone  in 
its  advocacy  of  this  federation.  The  Sunday-School  Union 
Society  of  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  also  affirmed: 

Sunday-school  unions  are  designed  to  concentrate  the  tem- 
poral and  spiritual  powers  of  men  into  one  grand  stream,  which 
will,  in  no  small  degree,  bear  away  on  its  mighty  bosom  the 
moral  darkness  and  wickedness  of  our  world  and  usher  in  the 

1  Report  New  York  Sunday-School  Union  Society,  1820,  pp.  16,  17,  22. 


72  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

millennial  day.  We  hope  to  see  this  union  extend  until  their 
circles  be  united  and  the  glory  of  the  world  shall  fill  the  whole 
earth.1 

The  Princeton  Sabbath-School  Society  of  New  Jersey, 
already  an  auxiliary  to  the  Sunday  and  Adult  School  Union, 
comprising  eighteen  schools  and  over  a  thousand  learners, 
seemed  to  have  had  a  vision  of  a  larger  union,  as  expressed  in 
its  fifth  annual  report — a  report  which  is  quoted  with  approba- 
tion by  the  managers  of  the  Sunday  and  Adult  School  Union. 
This  New  Jersey  society  declared: 

Permit  us  to  express  the  wish  that  the  association,  of  which 
it  is  our  privilege  to  form  a  part,  may  continue  to  flourish  and 
extend  its  genial  influence  till  that  happy  day  shall  arrive 
when  one  mighty  union  shall  be  formed  embracing  in  its  limits 
the  people  of  every  language  and  of  every  land.2 

Here  is  not  only  a  vision  of  a  world  Sunday-school  union,  but 
a  prophecy  of  it  a  century  in  advance  of  its  fulfilment!  All 
these  suggestions  concentrated  in  and  upon  the  existing  Sunday 
and  Adult  School  Union,  as  having  now  attained  a,  national 
scope. 

Early  Modes  of  Instruction. — Religious  instruction  in  fami- 
lies, schools,  and  churches  was  as  various  as  were  the  religious 
creeds  in  the  American  colonies.  The  earliest  modes  of  in- 
struction were  brought  over  from  the  home  lands.  There  was 
no  uniformity,  and  very  little  unity  in  either  creed  or  instruc- 
tion. Churchman  and  Dissenter  retained  each  his  distinctive 
views  and  modes  of  worship,  practically  little  changed  by  trans- 
portation across  the  Atlantic.  Puritan  and  Presbyterian  had 
allied  forms  of  maintaining  church  and  parish  schools  and 
imparting  religious  instruction  in  the  family.  Their  methods 
differed  widely,  however,  from  those  of  the  Churchman  and 
Cavalier  of  Virginia,  from  the  Hollanders  of  New  York  and 
from  the  Huguenots  of  the  Carolinas.  The  Quakers  of  Penn- 
sylvania were  quite  opposed  to  forms — whether  in  worship  or 
in  religious  service.  They  regarded  all  ordinances,  like  bap- 
tism and  the  Lord's  Supper  and  an  appointed,  paid  ministry, 
as  perversions  of  religion;  their  instructions  sprang  from  a  con- 
viction of  an  "inner  light."     Whatever  was  really  forceful  in 

»  Ifr port  of  the  Sunday  and  Adult  School  Union,  1823,  p.  55. 
*  Ibid.,  p.  42. 


THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  IN  AMERICA  73 

their  religious  teaching  was  largely  expressed  orally  and  by 
example. 

Puritan  and  Pilgrim  alike  in  the  early  days  in  New  England 
had  family  religious  instruction  through  catechism,  questions 
and  answers,  or  in  some  interrogative  or  didactic  form.  One 
of  the  earliest  of  catechisms  among  the  Puritans  and  Pilgrims 
was  that  by  John  Cotton,  already  named,  which  was  famous  for 
more  than  two  generations.  It  was  euphoniously  entitled, 
Milk  for  Babes,  drawn  out  of  the  Breasts  of  Both  Testaments, 
Chiefly  for  the  Spiritual  Nourishment  of  Boston  Babes  in  either 
England;  but  may  be  of  like  use  for  any  Children,  .  .  .  by 
John  Cotton,  teacher  of  the  Church  of  Boston,  New  England.  It 
was  issued  in  London  in  1646.  Cotton  Mather  calls  it,  'The 
Catechism  of  New  England,"  and  fifty  years  after  its  issue  says, 
"The  children  of  England  are  to  this  day  most  usually  fed  with 
this  excellent  catechism."  It  contained  sixty  questions  and 
answers  which  became  familiar  as  household  words  in  New 
England,  and  it  was  made  a  part  of  the  famous  New  England 
Primer  in  the  next  century,  thus  continuing  its  popularity  for 
more  than  a  hundred  years. 

The  educators  and  the  ministers  of  that  day  are  generally 
looked  upon  as  a  very  somber  class,  little  given  to  humor. 
But  it  is  said  that  a  conceited  friend  of  John  Cotton  was 
boasting  of  his  insight  into  the  Book  of  Revelation,  when 
Cotton  very  modestly  said,  "I  must  confess  myself  to  want 
light  on  these  mysteries."  His  friend  went  home  at  once  and 
humorously  sent  John  Cotton  a  pound  of  dipped  tallow  candles 
— the  common  light  of  that  day! 

For  a  hundred  years  The  New  England  Primer  was  counted 
"the  school  book  of  Dissenters  in  America,"  and  for  another 
hundred  years  was  frequently  reprinted.  It  is  represented  to 
have  had  a  sale  of  over  three  million  copies,  besides  numerous 
editions  in  England  and  Scotland,  even  into  the  nineteenth 
century.  Later,  the  Westminster  Shorter  Catechism  (1647) 
was  used  with  that  of  Cotton  in  the  homes  of  the  eastern  colo- 
nies. In  the  first  decade  of  the  nineteenth  century  appeared  the 
famous  Evangelical  Primer  of  Joseph  Emerson.  The  Heidel- 
berg (1563)  and  Anglican  (1549)  Catechisms,  and  the  still 
earlier  catechisms  of  Luther  (1529)  were  also  used  by  their 
respective  followers  in  America.     Their  use  was  so  firmly 


74  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

established  in  these  communions,  that  when  the  new  Sunday- 
school  movement — to  teach  direct  from  the  Bible — appeared  in 
America  it  was  exceedingly  difficult  to  displace  the  catechisms, 
or  even  to  put  side  by  side  with  them  the  Bible  lessons. 

In  early  American  Sunday-schools,  simple  and  somewhat 
crude  plans  of  instruction  were  adapted  from  the  Raikes' 
schools  and  the  London  Sunday-School  Union  (1803).  An 
attempt  was  made,  roughly,  to  grade  the  classes  according  to 
the  attainments  of  the  scholars.  The  six  grades  which  were 
common  in  the  Sunday-schools  in  England  (1780-1790)  were 
reduced  to  four  grades  in  the  early  American  schools.  Twenty 
years  later,  British  schools  adopted  similar  departmental 
grades,  named  infant,  elementary,  Scripture  and  senior.  It 
was  necessary  in  England  to  teach  many  learners  to  read  in 
order  that  they  might  read  the  Bible.  This  was  true  in  Amer- 
ica also  up  to  the  introduction  of  the  system  of  free  public 
schools.  In  the  lowest  grade  were  those  who  were  taught  the 
alphabet  and  words  of  one  syllable;  in  the  next  grade  were 
those  who,  while  unable  to  read,  could  spell  out  some  words  in 
two  or  more  syllables;  in  the  next  advanced  grade  were  those 
who  could  read,  but  only  indifferently  and  with  hesitation; 
and  the  highest  grade  was  composed  of  those  who  could  readily 
read  in  the  New  Testament.1 

The  supplies  used  in  the  Sunday-schools  were  the  alphabet 
on  cards  and  a  simple  spelling  book  especially  prepared  for  the 
Sunday-school  which  contained  also  reading  lessons;  all  the 
sentences  being  taken  from  some  portion  of  Holy  Scripture, 
while  the  "spelling  lessons''  were  words  taken  from  the  same 
portions  of  Scripture.  Moreover  in  all  the  grades  it  was  par- 
ticularly required  of  the  teachers,  and  the  learners  were  es- 
pecially enjoined,  to  give  attention  to  religious  instruction  a 
certain  portion  of  the  time  during  each  session  of  the  school. 
Only  a  part  of  the  time  was  to  be  spent  even  in  learning  to  read 
or  in  mastering  the  alphabet.  Nor  were  they  to  trespass  upon 
that  time  of  religious  instruction  to  recite  verses  of  Scripture  or 
hymns. 

Memorizing  Era. — The  prevalence  of  catechetical  instruc- 
tion was  so  great  that  it  seems  to  have  been  impossible  to  over- 
come it  except  by  stimulating  the  scholars  to  memorize  hymns 

1  Louisa  Davids,  The  Sunday-School,  5th  edition,  p.  384. 


THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  IN  AMERICA  75 

and  verses  from  the  Bible.  This  ran  to  a  great  extreme  and 
became  not  merely  a  hobby  but  almost  a  craze.  Scholars  and 
schools  entered  into  rivalry  to  see  which  could  report  the  largest 
number  of  verses  memorized  and  recited.  This  custom  began 
early  in  the  century,  about  1804  or  1805,  in  the  earlier  schools, 
and  continued  for  upward  of  fifteen  years.  During  this  period, 
Sunday-school  reports  are  full  of  such  records  as  these:  "One 
of  the  children  has  committed  to  memory  the  four  Gospels. 
Two  others  have  recited  the  first  three  books  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment, and  one  of  them  one  hundred  and  seven,  and  the  other 
one  hundred  and  five,  hymns."  Another  school  which  was  held 
in  the  evening  reports  that  "most  of  the  scholars  are  attentive, 
diligent  and  grateful,  and  recite  at  least  one  hundred  verses  of 
an  evening."  Again,  "large  portions  of  Scripture  are  recited. 
Two  girls  in  six  successive  weeks  recited  8,336  verses."  Still 
another  one,  not  to  be  outdone  by  others,  reports,  "One  girl 
has  recited  from  the  commencement  of  the  Bible  to  Isaiah, 
another  all  the  New  Testament  and  several  books  of  the  Old 
Testament." 

Nor  were  they  all  children.  One  school  reports  that  the 
scholars  are  from  the  age  of  seventeen  to  seventy-eight  years, 
and  that  they  recite  Scripture  every  Sunday  evening  and 
"repeat  at  a  time  from  one  to  eight  chapters  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment." One  person,  seventy-eight  years  old,  who  did  not  know 
a  letter  in  the  alphabet  on  entering  the  school,  was  taught 
to  read  with  facility  and  to  write  a  decent  hand.  Another 
tells  of  one  scholar  who  recited  "all  of  Dr.  Watts'  psalms  and 
hymns,  besides  fifty  out  of  other  books,  in  three  Sabbaths," 
and  at  another  session  of  the  school,  "the  same  scholar  recited 
1,752  verses  of  Scripture."  And  to  show  the  impartiality  of 
the  instruction,  another  school  reports  that  a  colored  woman 
recited,  at  one  lesson,  "570  verses  of  Scripture." 

Scores  of  pages  could  be  filled  with  similar  reports  from  the 
early  schools  in  regard  to  the  remarkable  cases  of  memorizing 
Scripture  and  hymns  and  the  various  catechisms.1 

Rewards  and  Penalties. — The  system  of  rewards  and  punish- 
ments of  those  early  schools  was  also  interesting.  They  were 
quite  varied,  but  the  following  was  a  general  system  which 

1  Reports,  Sunday  and  Adult  School  Union,  1818-1822;  Sunday-School  Repository, 
etc. 


76  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

prevailed  for  nearly  a  decade  in  the  early  part  of  the  last 
century.  Tickets,  with  passages  of  Scripture  printed  with  a 
border  on  thin  red  and  blue  pasteboard,  were  used  for  rewards. 
In  the  highest  classes  no  reward  was  given  except  for  good 
recitations — a  blue  ticket  being  given  for  every  six  verses  of 
Scripture  memorized  and  recited,  and  the  same  for  every  page 
of  catechism.  In  the  next  grade  a  blue  ticket  was  given  to 
each  scholar  who  was  present  at  the  roll-call,  and  for  every 
hymn  recited,  a  similar  ticket.  In  the  beginners'  classes  a 
blue  ticket  was  given  for  punctual  attendance  and  for  good  be- 
havior also.  Six  of  these  blue  tickets  were  equal  to  one  red 
ticket,  and  one  red  ticket  was  counted  worth  half  a  cent  in 
value,  to  be  redeemed  every  three  months  with  religious  books 
and  tracts  suited  to  the  capacity  of  the  child. 

On  the  other  hand,  there  were  penalties  as  well  as  rewards. 
Children  of  the  highest  class  absent  at  roll-call  forfeited  one 
blue  ticket,  and,  for  neglecting  to  recite  a  lesson,  a  similar 
penalty.  Also,  if  absent  from  the  morning  or  the  afternoon 
session,  without  a  satisfactory  excuse,  they  forfeited  another 
ticket,  and  still  another  if  they  behaved  improperly  in  church. 
Similar  penalties  for  absence  were  imposed  upon  the  lower 
classes,  and  for  bad  behavior,  whether  in  church  or  in 
school. 

No  favor  was  shown  teachers  or  superintendents.  A  teacher 
who  was  absent  at  roll-call  in  one  of  the  early  Sunday-schools 
was  fined  twelve  and  one-half  cents  for  each  offence.  Super- 
intendents were  punished  with  double  these  penalties  for  similar 
offences. 

Teaching  Methods. — Of  the  modes  of  instruction  in  the 
early  period  of  American  Sunday-schools  (1780-1820)  it 
may  be  affirmed  that  the  lessons  and  the  methods  were  in  a 
crude  and  formative  condition.  In  fact  the  theories  of  educa- 
tion in  general  were  in  a  state  of  evolution.  There  was  an 
effort  to  adapt  the  instruction  to  the  varying  conditions  of  the 
communities,  and  of  the  learners.  The  first  schools  in  America, 
as  well  as  in  Great  Britain,  were  primarily  for  the  ignorant  and 
neglected.  Only  a  small  percentage  of  this  class  could  read, 
for  American  free  public  school  systems  had  not  yet  come,  and 
many  people  were  too  poor  to  send  their  children  to  pay  schools. 
It  was  absolutely  necessary  in  many  cases  to  teach  not  only 


THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  IN  AMERICA  77 

the  youth  but  adults  to  read,  if  they  were  intelligently  to  grasp 
the  truths  of  the  Bible.  This  could  be  done  in  but  few  cases 
on  week  days,  because  the  adults  and  older  children  were  re- 
quired to  labor  six  days  to  earn  their  daily  bread.  Sunday 
was  the  only  opportunity  they  had  to  learn,  even  to  read,  with 
the  exception  of  those  who  might  do  so  on  week-day  evenings. 
The  number  who  could  take  advantage  of  the  week-day  even- 
ings was  limited,  and  most  of  these  were  too  tired  from  their 
long  daily  labors  to  attend  evening  classes  or  to  receive  re- 
ligious instruction.  But,  as  we  now  send  medical  missionaries 
to  the  heathen  for  their  physical  betterment  and,  through  this 
ministration  aim  to  reach  them  with  the  gospel  of  redemption, 
so,  in  the  early  times  of  Sunday-schools,  Christian  philanthro- 
pists used  the  Sabbath  time  to  teach  the  poorer  class  to  read, 
that  through  this  means  they  might  know  for  themselves  the 
message  of  salvation.  Great  care  was  taken  regularly  to  pre- 
sent the  saving  truth  of  the  gospel  to  these  learners  at  each 
session  of  the  school.  From  the  earliest  time  of  the  new  move- 
ment, the  teachers  were  enjoined  to  spend  a  definite  portion  of 
the  session  giving  oral  religious  instruction  in  talks,  in  lectures 
and  by  personal  appeals  to  the  learners.  Hence,  the  first 
mode  of  instruction  in  the  Sunday-schools  in  America,  as 
abroad,  was  largely  oral,  and  closely  allied  to  what  was  later 
termed  "the  lecture  system." 

This  lecture  system  was  accompanied  by  catechetical  les- 
sons— teaching  by  means  of  questions  and  answers — and  was 
followed  by  the  era  of  memorizing  Scripture,  hymns  and  cate- 
chisms. When  it  was  carried  to  such  an  extreme  as  to  require 
from  one  to  three  hours  to  hear  the  verses  which  a  single  scholar 
had  committed,  this  system  of  cramming  the  mind,  unnatural 
and  forced,  was  held  to  produce  "hydrocephalus,"  as  before 
stated,  and  the  popularity  of  the  plan  waned. 

It  is  evident,  long  before  this  point  was  reached,  that  the 
managers  of  the  Sunday  and  Adult  School  Union,  while  glad 
to  have  the  children  store  up  in  a  reasonable  manner  the  truths 
of  the  Bible  in  their  memory,  felt  sure  this  cramming  system 
and  parrot-like  recitation  could  not  be  the  most  beneficial. 
They  clearly  saw  a  better  way,  and  tried  a  better  mode  of 
instruction.  Various  methods  were  introduced  in  different 
localities  and  soon  there  emerged  a  more  satisfactory  system  of 


78  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

efficient  instruction  in  Sunday-schools,  as  we  shall  presently 
see. 

American  Sunday-School  Union. — "The  modern  Sunday- 
school  movement  began  with  teaching  youth  to  spell  out  the 
words  of  Scripture;  it  has  been  busy  ever  since  teaching  them 
to  spell  out  the  meaning  and  spirit  of  those  words/ '  as  I  sug- 
gested in  a  previous  treatise.1  It  marked  a  significant  crisis 
in  the  progress  of  Christianity.  The  American  Sunday-School 
Union  is  closely  related  to  this  movement  in  America.  To 
present  an  adequate  view  of  the  origin  and  work  of  this  Union, 
it  has  been  essential  to  consider  the  early  history  of  Sunday- 
schools. 

"The  idea  of  a  national  society  had,  for  several  years,  en- 
gaged the  thoughts  of  the  friends  of  Sunday-schools  in  various 
parts  of  the  country.  The  Sunday  and  Adult  School  Union 
had  already  become  national  in  its  scope;  it  lacked  only  the 
proper  name.  After  correspondence  on  this  subject,  a  plan 
was  distributed  for  consideration,  and  delegates  from  various 
and  distant  societies  were  invited.  Letters  commending  the 
object  were  received,  leaving  the  matter  to  the  Sunday  and 
Adult  School  Union;  no  delegates  from  distant  Unions  are 
recorded  as  present.2  At  this  meeting,  "the  whole  subject 
was  referred  (finally)  to  an  annual  meeting  of  the  Sunday 
and  Adult  School  Union."  Of  that  Union  of  1817  it  was 
then  asserted,  it  "has  already  extended  its  happy  influence 
over  a  large  portion  of  the  states;  and,  although  not  in 
name  it  was  in  fact,  a  National  society.  It  furnished  a 
broad  and  sure  foundation  upon  which  to  erect  a  super- 
structure that  should  be  in  name,  as  well  as  in  fact,  a 
National  institution."  It  "now  offers  its  advantages  to  all 
smaller  Sabbath-school  associations  of  every  name,  in  every 
part  of  the  world."3 

In  accord  with  the  general  sentiment  thus  widely  expressed, 
the  Sunday  and  Adult  School  Union,  at  its  annual  meeting, 
ratified  the  previous  action  of  its  managers,  considered  and  ap- 
proved a  constitution  for  the  "American  Sunday-School 
Union,"  and  agreed  to  change  its  name  and  to  transfer  "the 

1  Century  of  Sunday- School  Progress,  1899,  p.  6. 

2  For  list  of  auxiliaries  and  schools  that  united  in  change  of  name  see  Appendix,  pp. 
447-451. 

8  Report,  Sunday  and  Adult  School  Union,  1824,  p.  89. 


THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  IN  AMERICA  79 

funds,  books  and  property  of  the  Sunday  and  Adult  School 
Union  (amounting  to  about  $5,000),  contributed  chiefly  by 
the  citizens  of  Philadelphia,  to  the  American  Sunday-School 
Union."  This  constitution  was  prepared  by  a  committee  of  the 
Sunday  and  Adult  School  Union  and  adopted  by  its  man- 
agers and  members,  thus  changing  the  name  of  the  Union  to 
the  " American  Sunday-School  Union." 

It  completed  the  organization  by  the  election  of  managers 
and  officers.  The  officers  of  the  Sunday  and  Adult  School 
Union  were  chosen  as  officers  of  the  American  Sunday-School 
Union,  and  managers  of  the  former  union  were  re-elected,  also 
further  indicating  that  this  was,  in  fact,  only  a  change  of  name. 

The  location,  objects,  membership,  principles  or  basis  of 
union,  and  the  field  of  operations  of  the  latter,  were  sub- 
stantially the  same  as  those  of  the  former  society.  (Ap- 
pendix, p.  452.)  The  records  and  notices  of  these  proceedings 
indicate  a  change  of  name  in  accord  with  its  scope  and  char- 
acter, rather  than  the  institution  of  a  new  society.  This 
change  was  ratified  by  a  public  meeting,  May  25,  1824. 

"By  common  consent  Philadelphia  became  the  seat  of  the 
American  Sunday-School  Union."  Why?  Because:  (1)  the 
Sunday  and  Adult  School  Union  "was  the  largest  institution  of 
the  kind  in  our  country,"  already  national  in  fact,  having 
auxiliary  or  affiliated  unions  in  seventeen  of  the  twenty-four 
states;  (2)  it  was  centrally  situated,  closely  connected  with  the 
then  western  states;  and  (3)  Philadelphia  was  a  chief  city  and 
an  important  center  for  the  whole  country. 

Objects. — The  objects  of  the  American  Sunday-School  Union 
stated  in  its  constitution  "are  to  concentrate  the  efforts  of 
Sabbath-School  Societies  in  the  different  sections  of  our 
country;  to  strengthen  the  hands  of  the  friends  of  religious  in- 
struction on  the  Lord's  Day;  to  disseminate  useful  in- 
formation, circulate  moral  and  religious  publications  in  every 
part  of  the  land,  and  to  endeavor  to  plant  a  Sunday-school 
wherever  there  is  a  population."  The  members  declared  "that 
the  Society  is  composed  of  citizens  of  several  religious  denom- 
inations, embracing  within  its  plans  and  objects  all  ranks,  sexes 
and  ages  in  our  country."  ' 

Twenty  years  later  (1845)  when  the  Union  finally  obtained 

1  Charter,  Plain  Statement  of  Facts,  1S28,  p.  6. 


80  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

a  charter  under  its  present  title,  in  consequence  of  its  experi- 
ence, the  "objects' '  were  combined,  and  concisely  stated  in 
a  reverse  order,  thus:  "The  object  of  this  corporation  is  to 
establish  and  maintain  Sunday-schools,  and  to  publish  and 
circulate  moral  and  religious  publications."  1 

Basis. — The  fundamental  principles  of  the  Union  were 
clearly  set  forth  in  substantially  the  same  terms  in  successive 
reports  and  official  documents  of  the  Society  from  1817  to 
1845.  These  were  "the  essential  truths  of  Protestant  Chris- 
tianity held  in  common  by  all  Evangelical  denominations. " 
Full  and  explicit  statements  on  this  point  were  repeatedly 
made,  setting  forth  this  fact  exclusively  and  inclusively. 
Thus  it  was  asserted  that  the  basis  of  union  required  "no  sacri- 
fice of  principle;  no  compromise  of  duty;  no  interference  with 
the  internal  management  of  smaller  associations,"  but  did 
require  that  "all  discordant  elements  must  be  banished,"  and 
that  "union  with  Christ  and  union  with  each  other  form  the 
basis  of  the  American  Sunday-School  Union."  2 

Before  the  Evangelical  Alliance  was  formed,  the  Union  issued 
this  statement,  which  is  substantially  the  same  as  that  which 
was  afterward  adopted  in  nine  articles  as  the  doctrinal  basis 
of  the  Alliance.2  As  Christian  laymen,  the  managers  of  the 
Union  declared  their  belief  that  they  could  teach  "the  essen- 
tial truths  of  our  common  faith,  without  reasonable  offence  to 
anyone  touching  matters  of  unessential  importance."  While 
loyal  to  the  denominations  to  which  they  respectively  belonged, 
yet,  as  Christians,  they  asserted  "we  can  maintain  the  integrity 
of  our  relations  to  our  respective  churches  and  communities, 
while  we  can  unite  to  teach  the  truth  that  Christ  taught  and 
as  plainly  as  he  taught  it."  They  further  affirmed,  in  terms 
almost  identical  with  those  set  forth  later  by  the  Evangelical 
Alliance,  that  their  basis  included  the  doctrines  of  "the  suprem- 
acy of  the  inspired  Scriptures,  as  the  rule  of  faith  and  duty — 
the  lost  state  of  man  by  nature,  and  his  exposure  to  endless 
punishment  in  a  future  world — his  recovery  only  by  the  free, 
sovereign  and  sustaining  grace  of  God,  through  the  atonement 
and  merits  of  a  divine  Redeemer,  and  by  the  influence  of  the 
Holy  Spirit — the  necessity  of  faith,  repentance  and  holy  liv- 

1  Act  of  Incorporation,  Section  2. 

1  American  Sunday- School  Magazine,  July,  1824,  p.  5. 

>  Report  Evangelical  Alliance,  184G;  Schaff,  Creeds  of  Christendom,  Vol.  3,  p.  827. 


THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  IN  AMERICA  81 

ing,  with  an  open  confession  of  the  Saviour  before  men,  and 
the  duty  of  complying  with  his  ordinances  of  Baptism  and  the 
Lord's  Supper — in  these  doctrines  we  find  the  essential  and 
leading  truths  of  the  Christian  system;  in  the  reception  of  these 
doctrines  we  agree,  and  with  God's  help,  we  endeavor  to  teach 
and  inculcate  them  on  all  whom  we  can  properly  reach."1 
They  confidently  asserted  that  their  experience  in  the  Union 
"has  satisfactorily  demonstrated  that  the  grand  leading  prin- 
ciple on  which  this  National  Association  of  the  friends  of 
Sabbath-schools  was  originally  based — an  union  of  the  great 
and  cardinal  points  of  Christian  belief,  is  as  practicable  in 
operation  as  it  is  noble  in  principle;  and  time  has  but  the  more 
firmly  cemented  that  bond."2 

Members  and  Management. — The  American  Sunday-School 
Union  at  first  stipulated  that  each  subscriber  of  three  dollars 
annually  "shall  be  a  member;"  each  subscriber  of  thirty  dollars 
at  one  time  "shall  be  a  member  for  life."  Also  "members  of 
auxiliary  Sunday-school  unions  or  societies,  paying  three  dol- 
lars and  making  an  annual  report,"  were  "entitled  to  vote  at 
all  meetings  of  the  Society."  The  terms  of  membership  in 
the  Society  continued  substantially  the  same  for  twenty  years. 
When  the  act  of  incorporation  was  secured  in  1845,  the  terms 
of  membership  were  modified  so  that  "every  person  being  a 
citizen  of  the  United  States,  who  shall  contribute  annually 
three  dollars  to  the  funds  of  the  Society,  shall  be  a  member  so 
long  as  such  contribution  is  continued,"  "and  every  person 
being  a  citizen,  as  aforesaid,  who  shall  contribute  thirty  dollars 
within  three  years  shall  be  a  member  for  fife,"  provided,  "his 
name  has  been  reported  to  and  approved  by  the  Board." 
Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  any  citizen  of  the  United  States,  no 
matter  what  his  nativity,  sex,  color,  or  condition,  may  become 
a  member  of  the  Society  or  corporation  and  have  a  voice  in 
its  meetings  and  a  vote  in  the  election  of  managers  on  the 
same  conditions. 

The  affairs  and  funds  of  the  Society  are  under  the  direction 
of  a  board  of  officers  and  managers.  By  the  first  constitution 
the  officers  and  thirty-six  managers  must  be  laymen,  but 
"clergymen  whose  school  societies  are  attached  to  the  Union 

1  Brief  View,  1st  Ed.,  p.  5;  Sunday-School  Pioneer,  p.  13;  Historical  Sketch,  p.  17-, 
Report,  1844,  p.  57. 

*  Historical  Sketch,  p.  9;  Report,  1828,  p.  5.     See  Appendix,  pp.  452-454. 


82  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

shall  be  entitled  to  vote  in  the  board  of  managers."  "Officers 
of  Sunday-schools  auxiliary  to  this  Society,  shall  be  ex-officio 
managers."  This  provision  placing  clergymen  and  officers  of 
Sunday-school  unions  on  the  board  of  managers  was  evidently 
soon  discovered  to  be  cumbersome.  The  Union,  in  a  year  or 
two,  had  nearly  four  hundred  auxiliaries  and  more  than  a 
thousand  school  societies  attached  to  it,  which  might  have 
given  it  a  board  of  management  of  several  hundred  persons, 
making  it  not  only  unwieldy,  but  practically  inefficient  as  an 
executive  board  or  a  deliberative  body.  Hence,  in  1826,  and 
later  when  the  charter  of  incorporation  was  secured  from  the 
state  in  1845,  the  management  of  the  Society's  affairs  was  lim- 
ited to  a  board  "consisting  of  a  president,  vice-presidents,  a 
corresponding  secretary,  recording  secretary,  treasurer,  and 
thirty-six  managers,  twenty-four  of  whom  shall  reside  in  the 
city  of  Philadelphia  or  its  vicinity."  The  managers  were  at 
first  arranged  in  three  groups;  to  serve  one,  two,  and  three 
years  respectively,  but  they  were  eligible  to  re-election  for 
three-year  terms.  It  was  further  provided,  "the  officers  and 
managers  shall  be  laymen  and  shall  be  elected  by  ballot." 
The  managers  were  given  power  to  elect  all  officers  of  the 
Society,  to  fill  vacancies  in  their  own  body,  and  to  adopt  such 
other  measures  as  may,  in  their  opinion,  promote  the  objects 
of  their  association. 

While  all  the  managers  were  to  be  laymen,  this  did  not  pre- 
vent the  Society  from  bringing  to  its  aid  clergymen  and  edu- 
cators in  every  department  of  its  work.  Ministers  and  bib- 
lical scholars  were  employed  as  writers,  authors,  editors,  and 
missionaries  or  agents — giving  the  Union  the  advantage  of  the 
ablest,  wisest  men  of  affairs  to  conduct  its  operations  and  also 
the  benefit  of  the  most  learned  and  experienced  scholars  and 
educators  in  every  department  of  knowledge  and  in  every  field 
of  biblical  interpretation. 

The  practice  of  the  Society  shows  that  the  term  "laymen" 
was  interpreted  in  the  narrow  and  strict  sense  of  the  people 
in  distinction  from  the  clergy;  not  of  people  as  distinct  from  all 
professional  classes.  Thus  "laymen"  would  be  all  persons  not 
clergymen  or  preachers  recognized  by  their  respective  denom- 
inations. 

In  the  Society's  business  procedure,  the  members  of  the 


VICE-PRESIDENTS 


Hon.  James  Pollock,  1855-90 


Jay  Cooke,  1870-1905. 


B.  B.  Comegys,  1891-99 


John  H.  Converse,  1894-1910. 


J.  W.  C.  Leveridge,  1895-96. 


THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  IN  AMERICA  83 

Society  were  the  corporation,  and  they  annually  elected  man- 
agers for  three  years,  or  to  fill  unexpired  terms  thereof.  The 
managers  elected  the  officers  annually,  and  appointed  the 
standing  committees.  The  editor,  secretary  of  missions, 
missionaries  and  all  other  workers  were  nominated  by  the 
respective  committees.  They  may  be  either  laymen  or  clergy- 
men, but  they  must  be  elected  or  approved  by  the  board. 

The  board  of  officers  and  managers  of  the  Union  were  also 
empowered  "to  appoint  such  other  officers  not  herein  before 
provided  for  as  may  be  necessary;  to  provide  for  and  regulate 
the  admission  of  persons  being  citizens  of  the  United  States 
as  members  of  the  corporation,  and  to  make  all  other  laws 
and  regulations  necessary  to  the  good  government  of  the  cor- 
poration and  not  repugnant  to  the  constitution  and  laws  of 
the  United  States  or  of  this  commonwealth."1 

The  managers  are  elected  by  ballot,  at  the  annual  meeting  of 
the  life  and  annual  members  who  form  the  corporation.  The 
Society  must  ratify  any  sale  or  transfer  of  property  approved 
by  the  board,  or  any  change  in  the  charter,  to  make  the  same 
valid.  The  act  of  incorporation  by  the  state  of  Pennsylvania 
places  the  Society  in  the  class  of  benevolent  institutions.  It, 
therefore,  has  neither  stock  nor  stockholders,  the  property 
being  held  in  trust  by  the  corporation  for  its  benevolent  ob- 
jects. The  managers  serve  without  salary  or  compensation, 
esteeming  it  a  work  of  love  and  a  service  for  the  Master.  The 
officers  (except  the  treasurer,  who  gives  bonds  for  the  faithful 
performance  of  his  duties)  also  have  served  the  Society  without 
compensation^  and  even  the  onerous  duties  of  the  treasurer 
were  performed  by  Christian  business  men  for  over  fifty  years 
without  salary. 

The  board  of  managers  distributed  the  direction  of  its 
operations  among  four  standing  committees:  on  publication, 
on  missions,  on  finance,  and  an  executive  committee.  These 
committees  consider  various  plans  and  operations  and  recom- 
mend measures,  from  time  to  time,  which  to  be  valid  must  be 
approved  by  the  entire  board. 

The  members  of  the  Society  or  corporation  are  watchful 
in  regard  to  maintaining  a  fair  proportionate  representation 
from  different  evangelical  denominations,  not  only  upon  its 

1  Charter,  Section  V. 


84  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

board  but  also  upon  each  of  the  committees,  of  such  as  are  will- 
ing to  co-operate  and  sustain  the  work  of  the  Society  and  to  see 
that  no  one  denomination  has  a  preponderating  influence 
therein.  Its  publications  are  specially  guarded,  since  not  more 
than  three  members  of  the  committee  on  publication  can  be  of 
the  same  denomination,  and  even  then  nothing  shall  be  printed 
or  published  or  sold  by  the  Society,  or  at  its  expense,  to  which 
any  member  of  the  committee  shall  object.1 

The  uniform  purpose  of  the  Society  has  been,  and  is,  to  pub- 
lish and  distribute  its  literature  at  cost,  or  on  the  smallest 
margin  above  cost.  The  profit,  if  any,  has  been  and  is  set 
aside  for  the  improvement  of  its  publications,  for  their  gratui- 
tous distribution  to  those  who  may  be  unable  to  purchase  them, 
or  for  its  benevolent  work. 

It  will  appear  from  the  foregoing  basis  and  statements  in 
respect  to  the  structure  of  the  Society  that  the  American 
Sunday-School  Union  is  not  to  be  classed  strictly  as  un- 
denominational in  membership,  since  all  its  members  and 
workers  are  connected  with,  and  active  members  of,  some  par- 
ticular church.  It  cannot,  of  course,  be  called  anfo'-denomina- 
tional,  for  these  members,  as  individuals,  support  and  are  in 
good  standing  in  their  respective  denominations.  In  some 
sense  it  is  mfer-denominational,  but  not  in  the  sense  in  which 
that  term  is  often  used,  viz.,  to  imply  a  body  composed  of  rep- 
resentatives officially  appointed  and  recognized  by  ecclesias- 
tical authority. 

The  American  Sunday-School  Union  is  rather  a  voluntary 
union  of  individual  Christians,  of  different  religious  views  and 
creeds,  co-operating  for  the  purpose  of  promoting  religious 
education  through  Bible  study  and  the  establishment  of  Sun- 
day-schools. It  is  not  a  union  of  churches,  nor  does  it  aim  to 
form  churches  of  any  particular  denomination.  It  leaves 
church  organization  to  the  discretion  and  decision  of  the  com- 
munities where  its  Sunday-schools  exist. 

Big-hearted,  consecrated  men  of  affairs,  representing  the 
Church  of  Christ  of  every  name,  seeing  the  multitudes  who 
neglected  the  Church  and  religion,  were  guided  by  the  Spirit 
to  unite  in  the  great  mission  of  teaching  the  truths  of  the 
Bible  to  those  who  were  otherwise  unreached  by  the  gospel. 

1  By-Laws,  Article  VII. 


THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  IN  AMERICA  85 

It  is  significant  that  the  managers  of  the  Union,  in  their 
first  report,  recognized  their  responsibility  to  submit  a  report 
of  their  proceedings  not  to  the  public,  but  to  the  members  of 
the  Society.  This  point  they  distinctly  state  in  the  opening 
sentence  of  their  first  report.  Various  clauses  in  subsequent 
reports  indicate  that  this  first  statement  was  neither  an  over- 
sight nor  an  inadvertence,  but  a  candid  conviction  of  the 
managers  in  respect  to  the  parties  to  whom  they  were  chiefly 
responsible. 

Scope  and  Field. — The  managers  of  the  Union,  from  1817  on, 
surveyed  and  defined  the  scope  and  field  of  their  work  with  the 
marvelous  clearness  of  seers,  and  described  the  unreached  com- 
munities with  such  vivid  accuracy  as  to  arouse  and  startle  the 
public  conscience.  Existing  agencies,  apparently  doing  their 
utmost,  left  an  immense  field  in  the  country  without  gospel 
instruction.  The  educational  work  which  ought  to  be  done 
by  the  family,  the  ministry,  and  the  state,  was  not  to  be  less- 
ened or  overlapped.  Thus  the  Union  repeatedly  emphasized 
the  duty  of  parents  to  instruct  their  children  so  as  to  promote 
stalwart  moral  and  Christian  character.  The  managers  de- 
clared, "We  have  no  wish  to  relieve  parents  of  their  awful 
charge.  We  rather  wish  they  may  feel  loaded  with  the 
burden."  To  the  many  non-religious  families,  and  to  the  indif- 
ferent among  professing  Christian  and  chinch  members,  they 
had  a  mission  to  persuade  and  stimulate  them  more  faithfully 
to  give  religious  instruction  in  their  homes.  They  proposed, 
also,  to  provide  and  to.  introduce  family  religious  instruction 
where  it  was  not  given. 

Nor  did  the  Union  aim  to  overlap,  in  any  sense,  the  work  of 
the  ministry  or  of  the  organized  church.  The  proclamation 
of  the  gospel  by  preaching,  except  in  such  communities  as 
were  unreached  by  the  local  church,  was  no  part  of  the  great 
Union  Sunday-school  work.  On  the  other  hand,  their  aim 
was  to  bring  to  the  attention  of  the  local  church  and  its  min- 
istry, communities  that  had  been  overlooked  and  which  might 
receive  the  preached  gospel,  and  to  aid  them  in  doing  it.  The 
Union  sought  out  those  unreached  communities,  usually  out- 
side of  cities  and  large  towns,  and  in  the  open  country,  where 
the  people  were  so  divided  in  nationality,  in  speech,  in  religious 
prejudices,  or  by  irreligious  views,  that  a  successful  organiza- 


86  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

tion  for  the  study  of  the  Bible  could  be  secured  only  upon  the 
basis  of  our  common  Christianity. 

Public  Schools. — Again  they  defined  the  field  of  Sunday- 
school  operations  for  the  Union  and  marked  it  off  from  that 
of  the  common  school.  Everywhere  they  proposed  to  stimu- 
late the  state,  to  provide  free  public  schools,  to  teach  the  ele- 
ments of  a  physical  and  intellectual  education  under  govern- 
ment support.  This  would  relieve  the  Sunday-school  from  the 
burden  which  it  early  had  of  teaching  so  many  illiterates  to 
read  in  order  that  they  might  themselves  study  the  Bible. 

This  careful  defining  of  the  scope  of  the  Union's  work  made 
it  quite  improbable  that  there  could  be  overlapping  of  its  work 
with  other  agencies  of  the  church.  It  made  the  Union  the  fore- 
runner of  the  churches,  opening  a  way  for  them  more  suc- 
cessfully to  follow. 

Thus  the  Union  found  that  its  scope  was  not  narrow  nor  was 
its  field  small.  The  population  of  the  United  States  in  1824 
was  between  ten  and  twelve  million.  Of  these  about  three 
million  were  between  four  and  sixteen  years  of  age.  It  was 
computed  that  not  more  than  one  hundred  thousand  of  this 
number  were  members  of  existing  Sunday-schools  in  1824,  and 
this  was  considered  a  very  liberal  computation.  To  this  num- 
ber out  of  Sunday-schools,  immigration  was  adding  rapidly. 
A  large  proportion  of  these  immigrants  were  non-evangelical, 
so  that  the  thoughtful  in  the  churches  were  alarmed.  It  was 
said  that  the  population  would  double  in  twenty-five  years 
and  that  the  number  under  religious  instruction  should  have 
been  ten  times  as  great  as  it  was. 

With  courage  and  large  optimism,  the  managers  addressed 
themselves  afresh  to  the  problem  before  them,  proposing  vigor- 
ous advances  along  several  lines  at  the  same  time.  Realizing 
that  every  worker  required  proper  tools  with  which  to  work 
and  proper  information  in  regard  to  his  work,  the  Union  sought 
anew: 

(1)  To  gather  and  to  disseminate  information  in  respect  to 
the  best  methods  of  religious  education,  to  provide  thorough 
equipment  for  Sunday-schools,  systematic  courses  of  Bible 
lessons,  and  religious  literature. 

(2)  To  develop  leaders  in  different  communities  who  should 
organize  the  workers  into   local,  county,  and   state  unions, 


THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  IN  AMERICA  87 

enlisting  voluntary  helpers  and  employing  skilled  missionary 
superintendents. 

(3)  To  encourage  communities  in  organization  and  in  service 
for  the  above  purposes,  to  offer  them  the  best  facilities  for 
securing  literature  and  every  kind  of  equipment,  at  or  below 
the  cost  of  production. 

Hence  the  managers  put  all  their  energies,  at  first,  into  the 
preparation  of  a  lesson  system,  dictionaries,  commentaries, 
manuals,  lesson-helps,  primers,  texts,  tracts  and  requisites 
for  the  full  equipment  of  Sunday-school  and  family  study, 
besides  issuing  a  variety  of  periodicals  for  teachers  and 
scholars,  and  creating  a  body  of  juvenile  religious  literature 
sufficient  to  supply  any  and  every  community  with  a  suitable 
library. 

Systematic  Survey. — The  managers  of  the  American  Sunday- 
School  Union  improved  the  system  of  gathering  information 
from  all  the  schools  affiliated  with  it,  and  from  other  schools. 
A  system  had  been  pursued  by  the  Sunday  and  Adult  School 
Union  which  the  managers  enlarged  and  improved.  A  special 
question  blank  for  reports  was  issued  covering  four  pages  of 
large  legal-cap  paper,  upon  the  margin  of  which  they  printed 
forty-two  questions,  asking  for  information  in  regard  to  the 
local  union  and  schools,  and  the  condition  of  the  community. 
These  questions  were  classified  in  several  groups,  calling  for  a 
census  of  the  school  or  schools  in  the  Union,  giving  the  name, 
location,  officers,  number  of  teachers  and  scholars  of  each  sex, 
and  the  time  when  each  school  was  held,  as  well  as  how  the 
school  was  controlled;  the  number  of  scholars  in  each  of  three 
grades,  the  number  of  teachers  and  scholars  who  had  made 
profession  of  faith,  how  the  expenses  of  the  union  or  the  school 
were  provided,  the  interest  parents  and  pastors  took  in  the 
school,  how  often  it  was  visited  by  a  minister  of  the  gospel, 
whether  it  had  a  concert  of  prayer,  what  methods  were  taken 
to  increase  the  interest  in  the  school,  and  the  influence  of  the 
school  or  schools  upon  the  families  and  neighborhood  where 
held.  They  further  asked  if  there  were  other  neighborhoods 
without  Sunday-schools  or  churches,  how  many  and  where 
they  were,  and  how  they  might  be  supplied,  the  character  of 
the  literature  used  or  read  in  the  neighborhood  and  in  the 
school,  and  finally  the  obstacles  or  difficulties  to  the  prosperity 


88  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

of  the  school  or  union.  If  the  report  came  from  a  local  union, 
they  were  asked  to  give  the  census  of  each  school  connected 
therewith. 

In  this  survey,  they  further  sought  trustworthy  information 
in  regard  to  education  generally — the  character  of  the  common 
schools,  the  method  of  teaching,  how  the  school  was  housed, 
how  the  scholars  were  rewarded — and  instances  of  remarkable 
providences  connected  with  the  work  in  any  way,  or  with  the 
community. 

When  we  recall  the  scant  facilities  for  transportation,  having 
neither  telephones,  telegraphs,  railroads,  nor  steamboats,  and 
the  slow  and  costly  mails — each  letter  or  piece  of  paper  costing 
from  six  to  twenty-five  cents  for  transmission — and  discover 
that  they  secured  reports  from  every  one  of  the  then  twenty- 
four  states,  and  also  from  territories  of  the  United  States,  and 
moreover  extended  their  outlook  and  their  gleaning  of  facts  to 
British  America,  the  West  Indies,  South  America  and  to  most 
of  the  countries  of  the  Old  World,  Sunday-school  workers  of 
today  may  well  be  amazed  at  their  admirable  scientific  methods, 
and  at  the  thorough  information  which  these  industrious 
laborers  of  about  a  century  ago  were  able  to  collect. 

The  returns  of  this  survey  led  the  managers  to  declare  they 
"felt  more  deeply  than  ever  the  immensity  of  their  work;" 
and  they  strove  "as  they  were  able,  to  proportion  their  exer- 
tions to  the  wants  of  our  growing  country."  l 

With  Christian  patriotism,  they  affirmed  that  the  virtue 
and  prosperity  of  a  nation  like  ours  depended  upon  implanting 
in  the  hearts  of  the  people  those  principles  which  alone  can 
qualify  them  to  be  good  citizens,  and  they  were  sure  that  only 
so  could  the  nation  be  preserved  from  "that  ruin  with  which  it 
will  be  overhwelmed,  should  vice  and  infidelity  loosen  the 
restraints  of  virtue  and  make  our  population  a  turbulent  mass 
of  moral  pollution."  2 

Again  they  announced,  as  the  result  of  their  survey: 

Our  country  still  spreads  before  us  a  wide  uncultivated 
field.  .  .  .  The  meager  provision  which  she  makes  for  juvenile 
education  must  be  more  and  more  enlarged  until  all  her  children 
may  learn  With  equal  privilege  the  rudiments  of  a  common 
education.  .  .  .  Wen1  each  of  our  separate  legislatures  to 
make  a  provision,  as  wise  and  ample  as  have  some  of  them,  for 

I  Report,  1826,  p.  3.  2  Ibid.,  pp.  15,  16. 


THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  IN  AMERICA  89 

early  education,  the  necessity  of  Sunday-schools  would  not  be 
superseded.  Their  aid  would  then  be  required  to  make  the 
young  thoroughly  acquainted  with  the  Word  of  God,  because, 
although  the  good  old  custom  of  reading  the  Scriptures  at  the 
beginning  and  close  of  school  still  obtains  in  some  places;  yet, 
generally,  the  Bible  is  a  book  almost  wholly  excluded  from  our 
common  schools  and  if  read  at  all,  rarely,  with  the  solemn  rever- 
ence and  fixed  attention  which  become  an  assembly  of  young 
mortals.1 

Family  Instruction  Aided. — In  respect  to  the  charge  often 

made  in  those  early  days,  and  sometimes  repeated  now,  that 

Sunday-schools  interfere  with  family  instruction,  the  Union 

said: 

Our  Society  has  always  deprecated  the  tendency  of  Sunday- 
schools  to  lessen  the  sense  of  parental  responsibility  and  to 
devolve  the  whole  duty  of  the  religious  instruction  of  children 
on  strangers.  .  .  .  On  the  contrary,  the  Christian  responsibil- 
ity of  parents  is  greatly  increased  by  the  multiplied  assistance 
which  the  teaching  and  reading  furnished  by  Sunday-schools 
give  to  the  due  performance  of  their  duty.2 

Church  Relations  Urged. — Again  this  survey  brought  to  the 
attention  of  the  Society  the  frequency  with  which  the  de- 
nominational Sunday-school  was  independent  of,  or  loosely 
allied  to,  the  church.  It  led  them  to  make  the  following 
declaration : 

Sunday-schools  need  more; — much  more — of  the  co-opera- 
tion and  countenance  of  churches  and  their  pastors.  It  is  an 
erroneous  opinion  that  the  instruction  given  in  these  (union) 
schools  interferes  with  the  rights,  or  relieves  the  duties  of  parents 
or  pastors.  And  it  should  be  distinctly  understood,  as  it  has 
been  repeatedly  and  distinctly  avowed,  that  the  American 
Sunday-School  Union  does  nothing,  and  desires  nothing,  that 
shall  prevent  the  inculcation  of  truth,  as  it  is  held  by  the  parent 
or  pastor  of  any  evangelical  denomination.  .  .  .  It  avoids  every- 
thing distinctive  in  doctrine,  discipline  and  worship  which  is  a 
controversy  between  the  denominations,  it  teaches  nothing  con- 
trary to  those  distinctive  doctrines,  but  simply  leaves  to  the 
pastors  and  officers  of  churches  and  to  the  parents  of  the 
children  all  the  opportunities  and  facilities  for  instructing  them 
in  the  truth  as  they  regard  it,  which  they  could  all  enjoy  if  the 
institution  of  Sunday-schools  was  unknown. 

It  even  claimed  to  increase  and  multiply  the  facilities  for 
instruction  a  thousand-fold.  While  favoring  the  closest  rela- 
tions between  the  denominational  school  and  the  church,  it 

1  American  Smiday-School  Magazine,  1824,  Vol.  1,  p.  2. 

2  Report,  1838,  p.  19. 


90  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

still  left  the  pastor  and  church  to  determine  "by  their  own  con- 
duct and  measures,  how  close  and  mutually  advantageous 
shall  be  its  connection  with  Sunday-schools.' ' 

It  is  clear,  therefore,  from  the  repeated  utterances  and  prac- 
tices of  the  Union,  that  it  regarded  its  work  as  that  of  a  pioneer 
of  the  churches  of  every  name — as  a  vanguard  preparing  the 
way  for  their  coming  in  the  newer  settlements — as  an  auxiliary 
agency  for  reaching  mixed  communities  in  the  older  states.  It 
aimed  to  keep  alive  in  such  places  a  vital,  living  Christianity, 
by  inculcating  its  essential  and  fundamental  doctrines. 

Sunday-school  statistics  based  upon  careful  information 
secured  by  the  Union  through  "a  general  survey  of  Sunday- 
schools  throughout  the  world,"  led  the  managers  to  compute 
the  Sunday-school  membership  in  1825  at  857,905,  exclusive 
of  those  in  the  United  States.  During  the  year  there  was  re- 
ported an  increase  abroad,  chiefly  in  Great  Britain  and  Ireland, 
of  194  schools,  670  teachers,  and  25,722  pupils.  In  view  of  this 
increase,  it  was  estimated  that  the  number  of  pupils  abroad 
was  900,000.  In  the  United  States,  the  Union  computed  there 
were  180,000,  making  "a  grand  toal  of  1,080,000  Sabbath  schol- 
ars in  the  world."  The  managers  add:  "This  sum,  though 
large,  is  only  the  1,050th  part  of  that  portion  of  the  popu- 
lation of  this  earth  who,  were  proper  means  employed, 
might  be  brought  under  the  influence  of  Sabbath-school 
instruction."  * 

Three  Lines  of  Work. — In  view  of  the  general  survey  of  con- 
ditions, the  Union  proposed  to  make  definite  advances  along 
three  related  lines: 

(1)  Educational:  by  providing  a  system  of  lessons,  a  de- 
cidedly religious  juvenile  literature,  a  complete  equipment  for 
the  school,  and  definite  information  upon  principles  and  meth- 
ods of  teaching. 

(2)  Organization:  by  promoting  teachers'  meetings  in  the 
local  school,  by  forming  county  and  state  unions  among 
schools  and  teachers  for  inspiration,  counsel,  and  mutual 
improvement. 

(3)  Extension  of  Sunday-schools:  by  employing  general 
agents  and  missionaries  and  providing  a  medium  of  com- 
munication for  and  between  all  Sunday-school  workers. 

i  Report,  1826,  p.  13. 


THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  IN  AMERICA  91 

The  managers  affirmed  that  one  of  their  acts  was  to  establish 
the  American  Sunday-School  Magazine,  a  monthly  journal  de- 
voted to  the  interests  of  the  cause.  This  journal  had  been 
projected  and  planned  by  the  Sunday  and  Adult  School  Union 
in  1823,  and  an  editor  had  been  found  in  Mr.  Frederick  W. 
Porter  of  New  York,  a  young  man  experienced  in  editorial 
work.  The  American  Sunday-School  Union  also  purchased 
The  Sunday-School  Repository,  which  had  been  issued  for  a 
short  time  by  the  New  York  Sunday-School  Union.  It  was 
urged  that  a  magazine  of  this  kind,  properly  conducted  and 
supported  as  a  medium  of  intelligence  and  information — a 
repository  of  useful  and  able  discussions  on  Sunday-school 
operations,  and  containing  plans,  views  and  reports  of  confer- 
ences in  respect  to  the  cause — would  not  only  be  a  witness  to 
the  world  of  the  value  of  Sunday-schools,  but  would  increase 
their  moral  and  physical  strength  by  cementing  them  together 
in  the  common  work. 

The  Union  also  promptly  provided  a  monthly  publication 
for  the  pupils.  The  teachers  of  the  New  Haven  Sabbath- 
School  Union  (in  connection  with  the  Sunday  and  Adult 
School  Union)  had  planned  a  small  monthly  periodical  called 
The  Teachers'  Offering  or  Sabbath  Scholars1  Magazine,  in  No- 
vember, 1823,  intended  "as  a  monthly  reward  book  for  punctual 
attendance,  correct  recitation  and  good  behavior."  This  pe- 
riodical the  Union  purchased  in  1824,  and  changed  its  title  to 
The  Youth's  Friend.  This  was  enlarged  in  its  scope  to  include 
"a  great  variety  of  excellent  reading  for  children."  It  was  a 
sixteen-page  magazine,  each  monthly  number  illustrated  with 
engravings  and  supplied  with  inspirational  reading  for  the 
home. 

In  rapid  succession  the  Union  issued  circulars  and  pamphlets 
urging  Sunday-school  workers  to  organize  local,  county,  and 
state  unions,  suggested  a  suitable  constitution  and  plan  of 
procedure  in  forming  the  same,  issued  rules  and  regulations  for 
the  efficient  management  of  schools,  proposed  systems  of  re- 
wards, published  instructions  to  aid  teachers  and  to  guide  the 
librarian  in  the  use  and  in  the  keeping  of  a  library,  set  forth 
schemes  for  rewarding  and  interesting  scholars,  and  in  various 
other  ways  provided  information  which  indicates  the  complex 
organization  of  Sunday-schools  of  that  day. 


92  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

Campaign  of  Education  and  State  Organization. — But  the 
Union  did  not  trust  to  the  printed  page  alone.  Union  leaders 
bent  their  best  energies  to  select  and  send  forth  able  instructors 
and  lecturers  who  explained  the  system  of  modern  Sunday- 
schools.  They  sought  men  qualified  to  introduce  better  prin- 
ciples and  methods  of  instruction,  with  sufficient  force  and  mag- 
netism of  address  to  inspire  a  deeper  and  wider  interest  in  the 
cause  at  the  various  centers  of  population  and  influence  in  the 
country.  Some  of  these  men  were  leading  educators  in  the 
state  and  in  colleges  and  higher  institutions  of  learning.  A 
number  gave  their  services  to  the  cause,  others  were  paid  a 
moderate  salary  for  devoting  all  their  time  and  energies  for  a 
part  or  whole  of  the  year  to  this  laudable  work.  These  cam- 
paigns of  education  were  sufficiently  vigorous  to  arouse  zeal 
and  stimulate  enthusiasm  in  Bible  study  and  in  religious  edu- 
cation greater  than  America  had  ever  before  witnessed. 

Thus  the  American  Sunday-School  Union  entered  upon  a 
nation-wide  work,  with  a  vision,  a  system,  and  enthusiasm 
hardly  surpassed  in  the  present  century.  This  may  be  indi- 
cated by  these  earnest  words: 

Let  us  dig  deep  and  lay  the  living  stones  on  the  sure  founda- 
tion. Let  pious  parental  care,  or  infant  schools  for  the  little 
ones  conducted  by  wise  and  tender  matrons,  prepare  the  way 
for  the  Sabbath-schools.  Let  Bible  societies  furnish  the  Word 
of  God  to  be  read;  while  our  schools  give  a  taste  for  reading  the 
best  things,  and  teach  all  in  early  life  to  search  the  sacred  Scrip- 
tures. Let  missionary  societies  send  forth  the  heralds  of  the 
Gospel  with  these  Bibles  in  their  hands,  to  be  explained  and  ap- 
plied to  those  who  in  Sabbath-schools  have  become  familiarly 
acquainted  with  them;  and  finally,  let  all  Christians  do  their 
duty  in  supplicating  the  influences  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  their 
convincing,  enlightening,  vivifying,  and  purifjring  power.1 

Thus  these  seers  of  a  century  ago  had  a  vision  of  bringing 
together  all  Sunday-school  and  Christian  educators  into  one 
great  world  Sunday-school  union.  Not  only  that,  but  they 
also  had  a  wider  vision  of  bringing  into  close  relations  and 
proper  articulation,  one  with  the  other,  all  the  activities  and 
organizations  in  the  Church  of  Christ;  a  world  co-operation 
and  federation  of  all  Christendom,  of  whatever  name,  joining 
together  for  the  one  great  purpose  of  unitedly  proclaiming  to 
every  creature  the  gospel  of  the  kingdom,  until  it  shall  tri- 

1  Report,  1827,  p.  xii. 


THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  IN  AMERICA  93 

umphantly  cover  the  earth  and  Christ  shall  reign  as  King,  to 
whom  "every  knee  shall  bow,"  and  whom  "every  tongue  shall 
confess  to  the  glory  of  God  the  Father." 

A  vigorous  campaign  of  instruction  was  also  carried  on,  not 
only  by  the  general  agent  but  by  missionaries  (six  of  them) 
employed  in  1824  "to  establish  new  Sunday-schools;  visit  old 
ones;  revive,  animate  and  encourage  such  as  were  languishing; 
organize  auxiliary  unions;  explain  the  objects  of  the  Society 
and  .  .  .  extend  its  influence  and  usefulness."  x  Besides 
these,  special  agents  were  sent  out  on  important  missions; 
men  of  eminence  who  were  volunteers  and  unpaid  workers,  to 
organize  the  Sunday-school  forces.  Thus  the  first  state  Sun- 
day-school union  organized  was  at  Londonderry,  New  Hamp- 
shire, September  9,  1824.  A  delegated  meeting  was  called, 
through  correspondence  of  the  American  Sunday-School 
Union,  which  commissioned  the  Rev.  Gardiner  Spring,  D.  D., 
of  New  York,  to  attend  the  convention  as  a  delegate  from  the 
national  Society.  Representatives  from  the  various  counties 
were  present,  and  the  state  union  was  organized  with  Daniel 
Dana,  D.  D.,  president;  Hon.  Joshua  Darling,  vice-president; 
John  H.  Church,  D.  D.,  corresponding  secretary;  Rev.  J. 
Curtis,  recording  secretary;  and  John  W.  Shepard,  treasurer; 
with  six  managers  and  a  secretary  in  each  county,  completing 
the  organization.2 

The  second  state  to  form  such  a  union  was  Connecticut — 
a  state  which  then  and  since  has  been  counted  as  foremost  in 
educational  activities.  Those  who  took  part  in  this  second 
state  Sunday-school  union  were  men  of  national  reputation. 
Nathaniel  W.  Taylor  was  president;  Lyman  Beecher,  sec- 
retary; and  others  among  the  officers  were  Timothy  Dwight, 
Joel  Hawes,  and  Samuel  Mervin.  Those  who  are  familiar 
with  the  history  of  that  period  in  Connecticut  will  recognize 
these  names  as  among  the  foremost  men  in  the  state,  and  it 
implies  that  they  regarded  the  formation  of  a  state  union  as  "an 
era  in  the  history  of  moral  improvement  in  Connecticut,"  and 
"an  object  worthy  the  high  character  of  the  state."  They  held 
that  "Sabbath-schools  have  accomplished  great  things,  but 
they  may  accomplish  much  greater  good  by  increasing  their 

«  Report,  1825,  p.  7. 

*  Report,  1824,  p.  7;  Sunday-School  Magazine,  Vol.  I,  p.  123. 


94  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

number  and  improving  their  plans.  .  .  .  We  may  reason- 
ably expect  that  the  genial  influence  of  these  institutions  will 
be  felt  in  all  our  cities  and  towns  and  villages."1 

The  enthusiasm  created  for  organization  was  so  wide-spread 
that,  within  eighteen  months  from  the  change  of  name,  the 
American  Sunday-School  Union  had  nearly  four  hundred 
auxiliary  unions  in  twenty-two  of  the  twenty-four  states,  nine 
of  them  being  state  unions.  The  demand  for  juvenile  litera- 
ture which  it  had  created  exceeded  all  expectations,  requiring 
the  printing  of  90,000  pages  per  day  in  1825.  In  addition  to 
this,  it  issued  a  large  quantity  of  periodical  literature  and  over 
600,000  red  and  blue  Scripture  tickets  per  year.  It  continued 
its  survey  of  the  whole  field,  besides  sending  out  reports  to  be 
returned  to  it  from  thousands  of  schools,  gathering  information 
in  respect  to  the  numbers,  prosperity,  methods  of  instruction, 
and  increase  of  its  schools,  year  by  year,  for  several  years. 
These  reports  were  made  on  large  blanks  with  the  forty-two 
questions  printed  along  the  margin  and  space  for  full  replies, 
as  already  described.2 

The  Union  also  at  once  began  to  provide  elementary  works 
for  use  in  the  schools,  beginning  with  the  Union  Primer,  which 
was  edited  and  compiled  by  a  member  of  the  Board  (Joseph  H. 
Dulles,  a  Yale  graduate),  who  presented  the  same  to  the 
Society  with  the  stereotype  plates  from  which  it  was  printed, 
and  which  speedily  attained  a  circulation  of  well-nigh  a  million 
copies.  So  great  was  the  activity  of  Sunday-schools  and  the 
call  for  reading  matter  that  in  1825  the  Union  reported  over 
900,000  copies  of  different  publications  issued,  besides  period- 
icals. In  1827  it  reported  1,616,796  copies,  making  a  total 
in  three  years  of  3,741,849  copies  of  publications.3  The  Amer- 
ican Sunday-School  Magazine  speedily  reached  a  circulation 
of  2,500  copies  a  month,  and  The  Youth's  Friend  10,000 
copies. 

The  managers  were  even  more  assiduous  and  careful  in 
respect  to  the  quality  than  they  were  in  regard  to  the  quantity 
of  works  issued.  They  sought  to  convey  "the  most  important 
truths  in  a  pleasing  form;  adapted  to  the  minds  of  young 
people,"  so  that  "they  have  been  read  with  avidity  by  thou- 

1  American  Sunday-School  Magazine,  1824,  pp.  187,  188. 

2  Report,  1826;  Appendix,  p.  1. 
•  Report,  1827,  p.  iii. 


THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  IN  AMERICA  95 

sands  of  persons  who  have  little  taste  for  any  other  religious 
books."1 

The  Committee  of  Publication  created  by  the  Sunday  and 
Adult  School  Union  was  enlarged  and  given  more  important 
duties  by  the  American  Sunday-School  Union.  The  man- 
agers observed  with  regret  "that  improper  books  are  too  gen- 
erally placed  in  the  hands  of  youth — books  abounding  with 
foolishness,  vulgarity,  and  falsehood,  or  otherwise  deficient  in 
relation  to  their  moral  influence."  They  therefore  were  desir- 
ous "not  only  of  furnishing  their  own  schools  with  suitable 
books;  but  of  introducing  such  books  into  schools,  of  a  differ- 
ent description,  and  rendering  them  so  abundant  as  to  force 
out  of  circulation  those  which  tend  to  mislead  the  mind  and  to 
fill  it  with  what  must  be  injurious  to  it  in  subsequent  fife." 
They  regarded  this  of  "importance  equalled  only  by  the  value 
of  character  in  this  world,  and  the  soul's  everlasting  welfare 
in  the  next,"  so  they  endeavored  "to  increase  the  number  and 
size,  and  to  elevate  the  character  of  their  publications."2 

SKETCHES    OF   PROMINENT   WORKERS 

Alexander  Henry  (1766-1847).— First  President  of  the  Ameri- 
can Sunday-School  Union,  1818-1847. 

In  a  century  of  Sunday-school  service,  since  its  first  com- 
plete organization — 1817-1917 — the  American  Sunday-School 
Union  has  had  seven  presidents.  Mr.  Samuel  J.  Robbins 
rendered  good  service  from  July  to  December,  1817,  as  tempo- 
rary president,  in  framing  the  basis  and  first  constitution  of  the 
early  Union  of  1817-1824. 

The  founders  of  this  organized  movement  were  men  of  deeds 
rather  than  words.  They  desired  as  a  leader  a  man  with  clear 
vision,  high  personal  character,  sound  judgment,  and  com- 
manding influence.  They  found  Alexander  Henry  to  possess 
these  qualifications  in  an  eminent  degree,  and  elected  him  as 
president  of  the  perfected  organization.  Mr.  Henry  was  a 
prominent  merchant,  philanthropist,  and  Christian  citizen.  He 
had  achieved  success  in  business,  and  twice  retired  therefrom; 
first  in  1807,  but  when  the  war  of  1812  impaired  his  fortune,  he 
re-entered  business,  to  retire  again  in  1818  still  a  compara- 

«  Report,  1827,  p.  iii.  »  Report,  1826,  p.  v. 


96  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

tively  young  man.  After  some  months  of  consultation  with 
the  various  school  organizations  then  in  Philadelphia  and 
vicinity,  a  preliminary  organization,  with  x  Mr.  Robbins,  as 
temporary  president,  paved  the  way  for  a  Union,  of  which  Mr. 
Henry  was  unanimously  chosen  permanent  president.  He 
brought  to  the  task  sagacity,  prudence,  and  long  experience. 
When  the  Sunday  and  Adult  School  Union  was  enlarged  and 
its  name  changed  to  the  American  Sunday-School  Union,  he 
was  re-elected  to  this  position  of  honor.  He  was  a  model 
presiding  officer.  From  1818  to  1847  the  record  shows  that  he 
presided  at  every  anniversary  of  the  Union  except  that  of  1847, 
when  prevented  by  the  illness  which  ended  his  life.  He  was  a 
model  chairman  also  in  his  self-restraint.  He  rarely  or  never 
took  the  time  of  the  meeting  to  make  a  speech,  although 
qualified  to  present  the  work  in  a  clear,  perspicuous  and  forcible 
manner.  He  was  an  inspiration  as  well  as  a  leader  and  under 
him  the  Union  work  made  marvelous  progress.  The  wisdom, 
enterprise,  judgment,  and  prudence  which  had  enabled  him 
twice  to  amass  a  fortune  in  the  mercantile  business  were  carried 
into  his  management  of  organized  Sunday-school  work.  He 
combined  expanded  views  with  judicious  plans  and  a  vigorous 
execution  of  them.  While  attached  to  his  own  church,  and  a 
liberal  supporter  of  it,  he  was  also  an  ardent  lover  of  Christian 
unity  and  urged  that  principle  in  the  plans  of  the  Union  for 
nation-wide  evangelization.  His  early  training  qualified  him 
for  this  great  work,  as  the  following  sketch  will  show. 

Alexander  Henry  was  born  in  County  Down,  Ireland,  June 
15,  1766.  His  mother  was  left  a  widow  when  he  was  two  years 
old.  He  was  given  a  good  education,  being  prepared  under  a 
tutor  to  enter  a  university,  and  then  was  to  go  into  professional 
life.  The  sudden  death  of  his  tutor  turned  his  attention  to  a 
mercantile  career.  In  1783,  when  the  independence  of  Amer- 
ica was  conceded  by  treaty,  he  and  an  elder  brother  planned  to 
emigrate  to  America  and  the  land  of  Penn.  His  brother,  falling 
into  a  love  affair  about  that  time,  abandoned  the  trip.  But 
Alexander  came  alone,  bringing  a  few  guineas,  a  small  stock  of 
hosiery,  and  some  products  of  Irish  looms,  with  letters  of  recom- 
mendation to  a  mercantile  firm  in  Philadelphia.  This  firm 
promptly  engaged  him  at  two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  a  year. 
His  talent  and  ability  for  business  were  so  conspicuous  that  in 


THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  IN  AMERICA  97 

two  months  the  firm  placed  him  in  charge  of  a  branch  store  at 
thirteen  hundred  dollars  a  year.  Then,  owing  to  a  bank  be- 
coming embarrassed,  Mr.  Henry  decided  to  go  into  business  for 
himself,  and  such  was  the  confidence  reposed  in  him  by  his 
friends  at  home  that  in  less  than  seven  years  he  was  overrun 
with  consignments  from  the  best  commercial  houses  in  Eng- 
land and  Ireland. 

Mr.  Henry  united  with  the  Second  Presbyterian  Church  of 
Philadelphia  in  1803,  and  threw  himself  with  zeal  into  religious 
work.  He  became  a  teacher  and  then  an  officer  in  the  Sunday- 
schools  of  that  day  and  was  active  in  schemes  of  public  educa- 
tion, serving  as  president  of  the  Board  of  Education  of  Phila- 
delphia for  about  sixteen  years. 

Under  his  administration  as  president  of  the  American 
Sunday-School  Union,  it  conceived  and  carried  out  some  of 
the  greatest  enterprises  in  its  early  history,  including  the 
Limited  Lessons,  and  the  Mississippi  Valley  and  other  great 
missionary  enterprises,  which  are  noticed  elsewhere.  His 
associates  held  him  in  enthusiastic  esteem,  "for  his  expanded 
views,  his  judicious  execution  of  well-selected  plans,  his  great 
personal  influence,  and  his  liberal  supplies  of  pecuniary  aid." 
"He  was  counted  a  good  theologian,  sound  in  the  faith,  fixed 
in  his  religious  belief  but  charitable  toward  those  who  differed 
from  him."  He  was  generous  in  his  benevolence;  among 
other  things  he  purchased  a  large  stock  of  wood  for  many 
years,  which  in  winter  he  distributed  to  the  needy.  Before 
there  was  a  general  tract  society  in  this  country,  he  purchased 
tracts  in  England  and  distributed  them,  and  secured  the  writ- 
ing of  new  ones  at  his  own  expense.  He  paid  for  the  education 
of  young  men  for  the  gospel  ministry  and  was  counted  among 
the  first  in  this  country  to  engage  in  instruction  in  modern 
Sunday-schools.  Among  educators  of  large  vision,  he  was 
highly  esteemed. 

His  youngest  daughter,  Mary  Henry,  became  the  wife  of 
Samuel  Austin  Allibone,  LL.D.,  a  distinguished  bibliographer 
and  the  editor  for  ten  years  (1868-1878)  of  the  American  Sun- 
day-School Union's  publications.  His  great  grandson  (of 
the  same  name)  has  held  for  many  years  the  responsible  posi- 
tion of  secretary  of  the  Presbyterian  Board  of  Publication  and 
Sabbath  School  Work. 


(/ 


98  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

Joseph  H.  Dulles  (1795-1876). 

Among  the  founders  of  the  American  Sunday-School  Union 
there  were  business  and  professional  men  who,  by  their  college 
and  university  training,  were  specially  fitted  to  render  impor- 
tant service  in  any  educational  scheme  like  that  projected  by 
the  Union.  Of  these  Joseph  H.  Dulles  easily  stood  in  the  front 
rank.  He  and  his  associates  knew  how  to  bring  the  operations 
of  the  Union  into  an  effective  system. 

Joseph  H.  Dulles  was  born  in  Charleston,  South  Carolina, 
February  7,  1795.  His  father,  a  merchant,  immigrated  from 
Dublin,  Ireland,  to  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  and  was  taken 
prisoner  by  Sir  Henry  Clinton  at  the  siege  of  that  city.  The 
son  graduated  from  Yale  College  in  1814,  and  was  engaged  in 
mercantile  and  religious  enterprises  in  Philadelphia  for  about 
sixty  years.  He  was  a  close  friend  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Thomas 
H.  Skinner,  Sr.,  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  James  P.  Wilson,  and  of  Albert 
Barnes,  and  of  many  other  theologians  and  educators  who  were 
interested  in  the  work  of  the  Union.  He  was  an  officer  succes- 
sively in  the  Fifth,  First,  and  Calvary  Presbyterian  Churches 
of  Philadelphia. 

He  became  a  manager  of  the  Sunday  and  Adult  School 
Union  in  1823,  and  urged  that  the  name  be  changed  to  the 
American  Sunday-School  Union.  He  was  a  member  of  the 
committee  which  drew  up  the  constitution  and  by-laws  of  the 
Union  under  its  present  name,  and  advocated  measures  which 
promised  to  secure  marked  progress  in  the  Sunday-school 
cause  in  America.  Thus  he  advocated  the  publication  of  The 
Sunday-School  Magazine,  the  first  American  periodical  for 
Sunday-school  teachers;  and  aided  in  selecting  F.  W.  Porter  as 
its  editor,  in  1824.  He  called  attention  to  the  need  of  a  new 
building  for  the  Society's  use  in  1825,  and  that  year  compiled 
the  Union  Primer,  of  which  millions  of  copies  were  circulated. 
He  suggested,  and  was  sent  to  secure,  Frederick  A.  Packard,  a 
successful  lawyer  of  Massachusetts,  as  editor  of  the  Society's 
publications  in  1828,  and  was  active  in  planning  the  Mississippi 
Valley  Enterprise  of  1830,  and  also  aided  in  starting  the  pub- 
lication of  a  Sunday-School  Teachers'  Journal  weekly,  the  first 
of  its  kind  in  the  world.  His  reputation  among  national  Sun- 
day-school workers  is  indicated  by  his  being  a  delegate  to  the 
First  National  Sunday-School  Convention  of  1832,  and  honored 


THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  IN  AMERICA  99 

by  an  appointment  on  the  Committee  of  Business  and  Inter- 
rogatories, with  John  Hall,  John  Wiegand,  James  B.  Longacre, 
and  Frederick  W.  Porter.  This  committee  appears  to  have 
been  the  most  important  one  in  the  conventions  of  1832  and  of 
1833,  inasmuch  as  it  had  the  selection  and  presentation  of  the 
various  topics  and  matters  to  be  considered  by  the  convention. 
These  were  believed  to  represent  the  most  advanced  methods 
in  Sunday-school  work  attainable  at  that  time. 

Although  Mr.  Dulles  was  constantly  pressed  with  the  cares 
and  responsibilities  attending  an  active  business,  he  found  time 
to  project  and  aid  in  carrying  into  effect  various  measures  for 
the  advancement  of  the  Sunday-school  cause.  His  literary 
training  qualified  him  to  prepare  and  repeatedly  revise  or  re- 
write the  Union  Primer,  and  also  material  for  a  First  Reader, 
both  of  which  were  printed  with  engravings,  and  the  plates  and 
copyrights  were  generously  presented  by  him  to  the  Union. 
Though  a  pioneer  in  the  American  Sunday-School  Union,  he 
was  one  of  the  few  men  who  ever  aimed  to  keep  fully  abreast  of 
the  progress  of  the  times,  rarely  looking  back,  but  always  look- 
ing forward  for  improvements.  He  always  welcomed  and  ad- 
vocated new  measures  when  they  promised  larger  results. 

He  put  his  work  before  himself.  Thus  it  was  characteristic 
that  his  last  request  should  be  that  none  of  the  societies  with 
which  he  had  been  connected  take  any  public  notice  of  his 
death.  His  associates,  however,  recalled  his  long  and  valuable 
service,  his  earnest  devotion,  his  profound  foresight  and  his 
unostentatious  liberality  to  a  society  which  he  regarded  as  a 
leading  agency  in  evangelizing  the  country.  He  closed  a  long 
and  useful  career  on  March  12,  1876. 

Francis  Scott  Key  (1780-1843). 

Mr.  Key  was  a  lawyer,  statesman,  orator,  patriot  and  poet. 
He  attained  national  distinction  as  counsel  in  some  of  the  no- 
table historic  cases  before  the  United  States  Supreme  Court, 
and  was  given  a  delicate  diplomatic  mission  to  adjust  troubles 
between  the  Creek  Indians  and  the  immigrants  to  Alabama, 
which  he  settled  to  the  satisfaction  of  all  parties.  During  the 
war  of  1812,  Mr.  Key  was  sent  with  a  flag  of  truce  to  the 
British  Admiral  to  secure  the  release  of  Dr.  Beams,  a  fellow- 
townsman  of  Key's,  whose  home  was  in  Georgetown,  District 


100  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

of  Columbia.  The  British  Army  was  bombarding  Fort 
McHenry,  one  of  the  defences  of  Baltimore,  and  Key  was 
detained  on  the  fleet  and  compelled  to  witness  an  all-night 
assault  on  the  fort.  Worn  out  and  overcome  by  anxiety,  he 
longed  for  the  day,  and  when  dawn  came  by  the  aid  of  a  spy- 
glass he  saw  the  United  States  flag  still  floating  over  the 
fortress;  his  joy  flashed  forth  in  the  poetic  lines  which  have 
become  a  great  national  anthem,  "The  Star  Spangled  Banner." 
Mr.  Key  was  an  earnest  Christian,  a  teacher  of  a  large 
Bible  class,  and  prominent  in  the  conventions  of  the  Episcopal 
Church.  He  was  chosen  a  manager  of  the  American  Sunday- 
School  Union  in  1824,  and  continued  for  a  number  of  years  to 
take  an  active  interest  in  the  Society's  work,  presiding  at  a 
great  meeting  in  Washington  in  1830,  to  promote  the  exten- 
sion of  Sunday-schools  in  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi.  He 
was  active  and  successful  in  interesting  senators,  diplomats, 
justices  of  the  United  States  Supreme  Court,  and  members  of 
Congress  in  that  enterprise,  and  secured  the  attendance  of 
several  of  them,  including  the  Hon.  Daniel  Webster,  to  make 
addresses  at  that  meeting. 


SECTION  III 

UNIFORM  LIMITED  BIBLE  LESSONS 

Most  of  the  Sunday-school  lessons  previous  to  1820  were 
either  from  the  catechism  or  were  verses  from  the  Bible  or 
from  hymns  chosen  and  memorized  by  the  scholar. 

Memorizing  Era. — This  system  or  lack  of  system  was 
chiefly  repeating,  in  a  parrot-like  manner,  what  had  been 
committed  to  memory.  Scholars  were  permitted  to  choose 
any  part  of  the  Bible  or  any  hymn,  and  were  encouraged  by 
rewards  to  commit  to  memory  as  much  as  they  could.  It 
was  evident  that  the  scholars  did  not  understand  the  mean- 
ing of  much  they  were  thus  repeating.  There  was  little  time 
for  explanation  or  application  of  the  lesson.  Even  when  the 
sessions  of  the  school  were  two  hours  or  more  in  length,  they 
were  too  short  for  the  teacher  to  hear  the  scholars  repeat  all 
that  had  been  memorized.  A  verbal  memory  was  abnormally 
developed — and  the  mind  crammed  to  its  utmost  capacity. 

A  remarkable  example  of  this  gigantic  memorizing  was  that 
of  "Blind  Allied'  (Alexander  Lyons),  of  Stirling,  Scotland. 
James  Gall  and  others  testify  that  he  could  repeat  the  entire 
Bible  or  any  verse  or  chapter,  if  a  single  clause  were  given  to 
him,  and  could  also  tell  where  it  was  found.  But  if  he  were 
asked  to  quote  a  verse  in  proof  that  man  was  a  sinner,  or  any 
verse  to  tell  how  he  was  to  be  saved,  he  was  totally  at  a  loss 
for  the  verse.  His  memory  tenaciously  held  the  words,  but 
his  mind  utterly  failed  to  grasp  the  sense.  True,  the  excess- 
ive memorizing  of  verses  was  rather  an  abuse  of  a  good  thing 
than  the  right  use  of  it.  Harm  was  in  the  excess,  and  not  in 
the  thing  itself.  Nevertheless  educators  pointed  out  better 
and  more  scientific  methods  of  instruction.  It,  however, 
was  an  experimental  period  in  educational  work. 

Educational  Theories. — The  foremost  educators  were  still 
feeling  their  way  through  theory  and  practice  toward  some 
satisfactory  principles.     Of  the  practical  experiments  along 

101 


102  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

broader  lines  only  those  need  to  be  noted  that  were  on  trial  in 
advanced  schools,  and  among  educators  during  this  memorizing 
era.  Lewis  Baldwin,  principal  of  a  young  ladies'  school  in 
Philadelphia,  after  giving  a  trial  to  a  plan  which  he  had  con- 
ceived for  imparting  religious  instruction  on  non-sectarian 
lines,  upon  the  essential  doctrines  of  religion  and  salvation, 
prepared  and  published,  in  1816,  The  Biblical  Interrogatory,  or 
questions  explanatory  of  sacred  history,  prophecy,  etc.,  cov- 
ering the  most  interesting  portions  of  the  Old  and  the  New 
Testaments.  It  was  designed  for  use  in  families  and  schools, 
as  he  quaintly  says,  "to  facilitate  the  acquaintance  of  the 
rising  generation  with  these  precious  oracles  of  God."  His 
questions  were  printed  without  answers,  but  references  to 
Scripture  are  given  after  each  question  to  aid  the  teacher  and 
scholar  in  finding  the  answer.  This  is  a  small  18mo.  volume, 
of  over  300  pages,  and  has  chronological  and  other  tables. 
The  work  was  commended  by  several  of  the  most  prominent 
ministers  of  different  denominations  in  Philadelphia.  About 
the  same  time  Lessons  for  Bible  Classes  were  prepared  by  the 
Rev.  Dr.  John  McDowell,  which  attained  a  circulation  of 
100,000  copies  in  ten  years,  when  it  was  revised  and  re-issued 
by  the  American  Sunday-School  Union  for  advanced  Bible 
classes. 

Uniform  Limited  Lessons. — While  these  and  many  like  works 
were  prepared  upon  the  Socratic  plan  of  teaching,  they  were 
quite  different  in  their  methods  from  the  ordinary  catechism. 
They  followed  the  fundamental  principle  of  the  modern 
Sunday-school  movement,  namely,  "basing  all  lessons  directly 
upon  the  Bible,  and  sending  the  teachers  and  the  scholars  to 
that  volume  rather  than  to  creeds  and  man-made  state- 
ments of  the  truths  of  the  word  of  God."  As  already  stated, 
the  Sunday  and  Adult  School  Union  did  not  encourage  cram- 
ming the  memory,  or  the  parrot-like  recitations  which  pre- 
vailed in  1817.  As  wise  builders,  they  proposed  to  have  their 
work  constructive  rather  than  destructive,  and  therefore  did 
not  denounce  the  prevailing  system,  but  rather  undertook  to 
displace  it  by  what  seemed  to  them  a  far  more  intelligent  and 
improved  mode  of  instruction. 

From  1820  to  1823  the  number  of  advanced  schools  which 
dissented  from  this  excessive  memorizing  steadily  increased 


UNIFORM  LIMITED  BIBLE  LESSONS         103 

in  different  parts  of  the  country.  To  exclude  the  unprofitable 
plan  of  committing  large  portions  of  Scripture  to  memory 
without  religious  instruction,  a  system  providing  lessons  of 
from  ten  to  twenty  Bible  verses  to  be  used  by  all  the  schools 
was  conceived  and  tried  by  several,  but  notably  by  two  of  the 
schools  connected  with  the  New  York  Sunday-School  Union 
Society.  This  Limited  Lesson  System  commended  itself  at 
once  to  the  best  Sunday-school  workers  in  New  York,  and 
was  speedily  introduced  into  most  of  their  schools.  It  was 
adopted  by  the  American  Sunday-School  Union,  and  recom- 
mended for  use  in  all  its  auxiliaries,  then  comprising  a  major- 
ity of  the  schools  in  the  United  States.  A  list  of  the  lessons, 
with  the  dates  on  which  they  were  to  be  studied,  was  provided, 
so  that  absent  scholars  might  learn  the  lesson  in  course. 
The  same  lesson  text  was  to  be  used  in  the  whole  school,  with  the 
possible  exception  of  the  infant  class  not  able  to  read,  and 
in  a  few  cases,  of  advanced  Bible  classes,  which  already  had 
adopted  a  scheme  of  lessons  that  covered  a  large  portion  of 
the  Bible.  This  system  of  study  was  further  urged  for  use  in 
all  schools,  and  was  generally  adopted,  making  it,  therefore,  a 
"Uniform  System  of  Lessons." 

To  facilitate  the  use  of  this  new  scheme  of  uniform  lessons, 
different  teachers'  helps  were  issued,  adapted  to  the  main 
school  and  to  several  grades — the  germ  of  the  multitudinous 
Sunday-school  helps  of  today. 

Aids  on  Lessons. — The  aids  for  teachers  and  scholars  on 
this  early  uniform  system  of  lessons  were  based  upon  the 
educational  theories  of  the  first  quarter  of  the  last  century. 
They  comprised  leading  features  of  lesson  helps  developed  by 
the  uniform  system  fifty  years  later  (1872).  It  is  therefore 
worth  while  to  sketch  their  origin  and  character. 

Sunday-school  workers  of  Great  Britain  and  America  de- 
veloped systems  of  instruction  quite  independently  of  each 
other,  partly  because  of  the  lack  of  communication  between 
the  two  countries,  but  chiefly  because  of  the  different  condi- 
tions of  the  people  and  families  that  were  to  be  instructed. 
An  examination  of  the  systems  of  lessons  provided  for  early 
American  Sunday-schools,  impresses  the  worker  of  today  with 
the  wisdom,  far-sightedness,  and  fairly  accurate  pedagogical 
knowledge  of  those  early  educators.     In  some  respects  they 


104  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

were  a  generation  in  advance  of  their  age;  their  ideals  antici- 
pated many  of  the  features  of  the  advanced  methods  current 
in  the  twentieth  century.  During  the  catechism,  and  spelling- 
book,  and  memorizing  eras  of  the  early  Sunday-school  move- 
ment, individualism  reigned  almost  supreme;  each  scholar  was 
separately  taught  the  alphabet,  each  more  advanced  scholar 
recited  his  own  lesson.  Some  have  designated  it  the  period 
when  the  "graded-lesson  theory"  ran  wild,  for,  as  a  rule,  each 
scholar  had  a  special  lesson.  Classes  there  were,  in  name,  but 
classification  was  for  discipline  rather  than  for  instruction. 
There  was  neither  uniformity  nor  federation  in  the  teaching 
work. 

Dissatisfaction  with  such  a  fragmentary  and  individualistic 
system  increased  in  America  and  forced  the  workers  (even 
though  not  expert  educators)  to  cast  about  for  some  better 
one.  It  was  obvious  that  the  lessons  must  be  limited,  even 
for  memorizing,  to  admit  proper  school  or  class  instruction. 
Truman  Parmele  of  Utica,  New  York,  proposed  a  list  of 
selected  lessons  from  the  four  Gospels  and  the  Acts,  in  1823, 
and  issued  helps  upon  them.  The  questions  were  few — some 
calling  for  thoughtful  study  in  addition  to  memorizing  the 
lesson.  His  work  was  named  Questions  on  the  Historical 
Parts  of  the  New  Testament,  designed  for  Sabbath-schools, 
by  Truman  Parmele,  a  superintendent  of  the  Utica  Union 
Sabbath  School.  (Appendix,  p.  456.)  The  preliminary 
issue  consisted  of  lessons  covering  the  first  three  chapters  of 
Matthew  and  was  intended  "merely  to  give  the  teacher  an 
idea  of  the  manner  in  which  he  should  proceed  in  his  explana- 
tion.'' It  also  contained  an  outline  of  the  lessons  upon  the 
entire  Gospel  of  Matthew  and  upon  most  of  the  Gospel  of 
Mark. 

Early  in  the  same  year,  S.  W.  Seton,  familiarly  known  as 
"Father"  Seton,  and  William  A.  Tomlinson,  of  New  York, 
arranged  a  scheme  of  lessons,  without  questions,  for  general 
use  in  all  the  classes  of  their  schools.  These  were  passages  of 
Scripture  covering  the  leading  events  in  the  fife  of  Christ. 
"Father"  Seton  was  well-known  as  an  expert  infant  or  primary 
class  instructor  in  the  public  schools.  Their  system  is  thus 
described:  "They  have  arranged  select  portions  of  Scripture 
for  every  Sabbath  in  the  year,  comprising  from  ten  to  twenty 


RECORDING  SECRETARIES 


John  C.  Pechin,  1818-2-1. 


Abraham  Martin,  1825-28 


Frederick  A.  Packard,  1829-59.  M.  A.  Wurts,  1861-81. 

John  S.  Hart,  1860  Richard  Ashhurst,  1883-93. 

J.  M.  Andrews,  1894-1910. 


SUPERINTENDENTS   OF   DEPOSITORIES 


George  S.  Scofield. 


Alexander  Kirkpatrick. 


UNIFORM  LIMITED  BIBLE  LESSONS  105 

verses  each,  one  of  which  portions  is  announced  each  Sabbath 
to  the  whole  school  and  all  are  engaged  the  following  Sabbath 
in  receiving  instructions  from  the  same  lessons.  Each  scholar 
is  supplied  with  a  printed  card  containing  the  selection,  the 
lessons  [being]  numbered  in  order.  The  scholars  are  required 
to  read  the  portion  during  the  week  and  after  receiving  in- 
struction on  it,  to  commit  it  for  recitation.  .  .  .  These  lessons 
are  chronologically  arranged,  so  as  to  embrace  all  the  leading 
incidents  of  the  gospel  in  due  order."  The  pastors  gave  a 
weekly  lecture  to  the  teachers  on  the  lesson  for  each  Sabbath. 
It  was  also  the  topic  at  the  monthly  concert.1 

This  system  of  lessons  attracted  wide  attention  and  was 
enthusiastically  adopted.  An  association  of  teachers  in  New 
York  declared,  by  formal  resolution,  October,  1824,  "that  the 
lessons  for  recitation  in  Sabbath-schools  should  be  selected  and 
previously  explained  by  the  teachers."  It  issued  the  same 
year  a  list  of  seventeen  select  lessons,  on  slips  or  cards,  to  be 
used  for  a  few  months  from  January  1,  1825.  But  in  March, 
1825,  the  American  Sunday-School  Union  printed  a  list  of 
select  lessons  for  one  year  in  card  form,  which  comprised 
studies  on  the  life  of  Christ.2  Their  object  was  to  give  schools 
in  other  cities  than  New  York,  and  in  smaller  towns,  an  oppor- 
tunity to  test  the  new  system  of  study.  The  list  numbered 
the  lessons,  cited  the  passage  of  Scripture  (not  printing  the 
text),  and  gave  a  title  to  each  lesson.  The  lists  were  divided 
into  four  parts,  one  for  each  quarter  of  the  year,  and  printed 
without  question,  note,  or  comment.  This  first  annual  list 
comprised  forty-nine  lessons,  the  other  Sabbaths  being  given 
to  the  quarterly  examination  of  the  scholars.  The  select  or 
limited  Scripture  lessons,  from  1824,  appear  to  have  been 
quite  different  in  the  number  of  lessons  for  the  first  and  second 
annual  courses,  and  also  in  the  length  and  in  the  character  of 
the  topics  selected.  Thus  the  number  of  lessons  for  the  first 
annual  course  is  variously  given  at  forty-nine  in  one  list, 
forty-seven  in  an  announcement,  and,  later,  forty  lessons  for 
the  year,  and  even  thirty-eight  and  thirty-six  in  other  lists.3 

The    system    was    successfully    introduced    into    Sunday- 

1  Report  New  York  Sunday-School  Union  Society,  May,  1825,  p.  14. 

*  Sunday-School  Magazine,  1825,  p.  83. 

3  Report,  1826,  pp.  92,  110,  111,  112  Appendix;  1827,  pp.  xxvii,  xxviii,  25,  26,  119,  120 
Appendix;  1826,  p.  25.  See  Appendix,  p.  457,  for  reference  to  the  Selected  Lessons  used 
during  previous  years. 


106  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

schools  in  New  York,  Philadelphia,  Boston,  Albany,  and  else- 
where. Wherever  tried,  it  proved  satisfactory  and  aroused 
great  enthusiasm. 

The  second  year's  course  of  select  uniform  lessons  followed 
and  was  issued  with  the  first  year's  course — the  two  compris- 
ing eighty-nine  lessons;  forty-nine  in  the  first  course,  and  thirty- 
six  or  forty  in  the  second.  Of  the  second  year's  course  of 
only  thirty-six  or  forty  it  was  said:  "The  course  is  intended  to 
occupy  every  Sabbath  through  the  year,  excepting  the  first 
Sabbath  of  every  month  and  one  Sabbath  in  every  quarter, 
which  should  be  given  to  reviewing  the  lessons  and  an  ex- 
amination before  the  pastor  of  the  church." 

A  general  call  for  this  system  of  lessons  made  it  evident 
that  the  "select  uniform  system"  had  won  the  day.  In 
response  to  the  wider  call,  the  list  was  again  carefully  revised 
and  re-issued;  the  first  course  of  lessons  was  reduced  to  forty. 
Of  this  revised  course  they  said:  "The  useful  effects,  as  ex- 
hibited in  the  few  schools  that  have  fully  tested  it,  left  it  in 
no  way  doubtful  that  the  general  adoption  of  it  would  be  con- 
ducive to  the  rapid  improvement  of  other  schools.  .  .  .  The 
design  of  the  system  is  to  exclude  the  unprofitable  plan  of  com- 
mitting large  portions  of  the  Scripture  to  memory  without 
religious  instruction;  and  to  introduce  a  method  whereby  the 
scholars  shall  receive  particular  instruction  on  all  that  they 
commit  to  memory.  ...  A  list  of  the  lessons,  with  the  date 
of  those  Sabbaths  on  which  they  occur,  is  provided  for  the 
superintendents  conducting  the  schools  and  the  ministers 
engaged  to  lecture  on  the  lessons.  .  .  .  Similarly,  some  cards 
are  printed  for  the  use  of  the  scholars,  so  that  when  absent 
they  may  read  and  learn  the  lessons  in  the  course.  .  .  .  The 
number  of  lessons  is  forty,  being  ten  for  each  quarter.  The 
last  Sabbath  in  the  month  the  lessons  are  omitted  for  the 
purpose  of  giving  other  religious  instruction." 

This  custom  of  assigning  one  Sabbath  each  month  to  recit- 
ing proofs  in  answer  to  monthly  questions  prepared  by  the 
Union,  and  of  giving  instruction  on  the  Ten  Commandments 
and  in  the  catechism,  prevailed  in  the  New  York  schools. 
Again,  the  American  Sunday-School  Union,  in  issuing  the 
revised  system  and  list,  suggested  that  schools  should  spend 
one  Sabbath  each  month  in  a  review,  thus  providing  fifty-two 


UNIFORM  LIMITED  BIBLE  LESSONS  107 

lessons  for  the  fifty-two  Sundays  of  the  year.  The  schools 
were  left  free,  however,  to  conduct  a  review  once  each  quarter 
as  before,  and  to  give  the  other  Sabbaths  to  special  lessons  on 
the  Commandments,  on  the  peculiar  doctrines  of  each  church, 
or  in  the  church  catechism. 

The  American  Sunday-School  Union  expressed  the  hope 
that  the  new  system  would  be  adopted  by  all  its  auxiliaries 
[practically,  it  was]  and  by  all  Sabbath-schools  in  the  whole 
country.  Thus  the  projectors  proposed  to  secure  uniform 
lessons.  Already  the  hope  was  expressed  "that  this  plan  will 
very  soon  be  so  systematized  that  every  school  may  be  furnished 
with  the  same  lesson — that  thus  every  teacher  and  every  scholar 
may  be  occupied  upon  the  same  subject  at  the  very  same 
time."1  Here  was  a  Uniform  Lesson  System  for  all  schools, 
on  the  wise  plan  of  freedom  in  using  it,  for  the  entire  school, 
giving  an  option  for  other  special  lessons  for  the  Infant  Class, 
and  advanced  lessons  for  higher  Bible  Classes,  but  offered  for 
all  to  use  at  the  same  time. 

Judson's  Questions. — To  facilitate  the  study  of  this  new  uni- 
form system  of  lessons  the  New  York  Sunday-School  Union,  in 
connection  with  the  American  Sunday-School  Union,  issued  a 
series  of  questions  on  the  selected  Scripture  Lessons,  prepared 
by  Albert  Judson,  who  was  for  some  time  employed  in  the  ex- 
tension and  improvement  of  Sunday-schools  in  New  York. 

The  first  set  of  helps  was  in  two  volumes  of  about  200  pages 
each,  each  volume  covering  the  forty  lessons,  for  a  year's 
study,  and  being  noted  as  part  of  a  "five-year"  cycle  of  lessons. 
The  list  of  lessons  with  titles  was  inserted  at  the  end  of  the 
volume.  The  Scripture  text  was  not  printed  except  in  special 
editions  at  the  end  of  the  volume.  The  first  year's  course  as 
revised  began  with  the  lesson  on  the  appearance  of  the  angel 
to  Zacharias  and  included  the  history  of  the  events  of  our 
Lord's  life,  death,  resurrection  and  ascension,  and  was 
counted  the  "historic  course."  The  second  year's  course 
included  lessons  on  the  parables  and  teaching  of  our  Lord. 
Every  lesson  was  limited  to  from  fifteen  to  twenty-five  verses. 
Volume  III,  the  third  years'  course  of  lessons,  was  announced 
as  ready,  June  1,  1828. 

To  aid  the  teachers  in  grading  their  instruction  to  the 

i  Report,  1826,  p.  9. 


108  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

needs  of  the  scholar,  there  were  three  grades  of  questions  in 
each  lesson.  The  first  was  designed  to  be  plain  and  easy;  the 
second  of  less  simplicity,  requiring  more  thought  and  leading 
the  teacher  and  his  pupil  to  inquire  into  the  meaning  of  the 
text;  the  third  was  still  more  difficult  and  general  in  scope, 
extending  to  passages  in  different  parts  of  the  Bible  bearing 
upon  the  same  subject.  Interspersed  with  these  were  ques- 
tions relating  to  the  geography,  customs,  and  oriental  color- 
ing of  the  medium  through  which  the  truth  was  presented. 
At  the  end  of  the  volume  were  plans  and  suggestions  upon  con- 
ducting public  examinations  of  the  scholars  at  the  end  of  each 
quarter,  and  an  "Address  to  Teachers"  on  their  duties,  and 
urging  fidelity  therein. 

The  plan  was  warmly  commended  by  nearly  all  of  the  fore- 
most ministers  of  every  evangelical  denomination  in  New 
York,  Philadelphia,  and  other  large  cities.  It  was  endorsed 
by  Dr.  James  Milnor,  Dr.  J.  M.  Matthews,  Provost  of  New 
York  University,  Dr.  Gardiner  Spring,  Dr.  Henry  Chase, 
Dr.  Archibald  Maclay,  and  others,  of  the  Baptist,  Dutch 
Reformed,  Methodist  Episcopal,  Presbyterian,  *  Protestant 
Episcopal,  and  various  other  churches. 

This  system  of  lessons  and  these  helps  and  fresh  works  of 
exposition  on  the  Bible  marked  a  new  era  in  Sunday-school 
progress.  One  leading  educator  declared,  "At  once  instruc- 
tion became  more  intelligent,  more  thorough,  and  more  effect- 
ive." Those  using  it  said  they  "observed  the  working  at  the 
time  and  noted  how,  at  once,  new  character  was  given  to  the 
institution,  that  it  truly  was  a  congregation  of  Bible  schools. 
Teachers  of  little  or  no  experience,  however,  required  brief 
notes  on  the  lesson  to  use  in  class  work.  These  were  also 
provided.  There  were,  in  fact,  at  least  three  helps  which 
appeared  about  the  same  time  from  three  different  points  of 
view  and,  as  Chancellor  Ferris  noted,  were  entirely  independ- 
ent of  one  another.  In  addition  to  the  one  by  Parmele  and 
that  by  Judson,  already  noticed,  a  third  was  issued  entitled 
A  New  Series  of  Questions  on  the  Select  Scripture  Lessons  for 
Sabbath  Schools,  by  a  superintendent,  who  was  understood  to 
be  Harvey  Fisk.  He  knew  of  Judson's  questions,  and  says, 
"Some  will  ask,  'Why  publish  a  new  series,  since  Judson's 
have  been  so  extensively  approved?'  "     His  answer  is,  "We 


UNIFORM  LIMITED  BIBLE  LESSONS         109 

think  the  new  series  will  be  far  better  adapted  to  promote  the 
success  and  prosperity  of  Sunday-schools  in  the  country." 
His  preface  implies  that  he  thought  Judson's  helps  too  diffi- 
cult for  the  average  rural  school.  The  two,  however,  were 
soon  after  combined  into  one. 

Of  the  new  lesson  system  and  its  helps  it  was  further  de- 
clared: "Not  a  point  of  interest  or  importance  is  contained 
in  a  given  portion  of  the  Word  of  God  but  may  be  brought 
out,  and  the  scholar  is  constantly  advancing  in  the  knowledge 
of  divine  truth,  and,  if  he  completes  the  whole  course,  [five 
years],  his  knowledge  of  Bible  history,  geography,  biography, 
biblical  antiquities,  and  what  is  essentially  momentous  of 
scriptural  truth,  will  be  very  extensive." 

Art  of  Questioning.— Moreover,  they  had  this  to  say  on  the 
Socratic  mode  of  teaching  Scripture:  "The  plan  aims  to  secure 
some  right  understanding  of  the  Scripture  study.  For  this  end 
it  requires  the  teachers  to  make  use  of  simple  and  various  ques- 
tions— questions  suited  to  compel  attention  to  every  minute 
point,  to  excite  and  draw  forth  thought  and  to  awaken  the 
moral  sensibility  of  the  heart.  Few  teachers  are  qualified 
to  discharge  this  duty  without  help.  All  are  aided  by  a  judi- 
cious directory  in  their  own  preparation." 

The  two  kinds  of  helps  upon  the  same  scheme  of  lessons — 
that  by  Judson  and  by  Fisk — were  combined,  revised,  and  re- 
edited,  and  issued  by  the  American  Sunday-School  Union. 
But,  before  this,  the  demand  for  Judson's  helps  had  been 
far  in  excess  of  the  supply — 7,000  copies  of  the  first  vol- 
ume were  issued  in  New  York,  and  were  found  utterly 
inadequate.  The  American  Sunday-School  Union  purchased 
the  right  to  issue  50,000  copies  of  the  first  and  second 
volumes.  This  failed  also  to  meet  the  demand.  Several 
editions  were  rushed  through  the  press  in  America  and  large 
editions  were  immediately  reprinted  in  London  by  the  Re- 
ligious Tract  Society  for  use  in  English  schools.  Fisk's  helps 
were  recognized  as  containing  some  features  wanting  in 
Judson's,  and  so,  with  the  cordial  consent  of  the  respective 
authors,  Mr.  Fisk  was  chosen  to  combine  the  best  features  of 
the  two  into  one.  This  combined  system  was  revised  by  the 
editors  and  the  committee  of  the  American  Sunday-School 
Union   and  became  the  forerunner  of  the  Union  Questions. 


110  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

It  was  called  a  compilation,  "by  Harvey  Fisk  in  conjunction 
with  the  authors  of  the  previous  helps,"  and  "revised  by  the 
committee  of  publication  of  the  American  Sunday-School 
Union." 

It  will  be  seen,  therefore,  that  the  first  issue  of  the  famous 
Union  Question  volumes  was  based  on  this  system  of  select, 
uniform  lessons,  the  Bible  texts  being  those  already  selected 
and  approved  by  educators  entirely  independent  of  Mr.  Fisk, 
and  of  any  of  the  question  or  other  helps  on  the  texts  for  study. 

The  purpose  of  Fisk's  later  work  was  tersely  stated:  "The 
great  object  of  a  book  of  questions  is  to  excite  the  mind  to  a 
careful  and  thorough  examination  of  the  Scriptures.  When 
the  mind  is  once  aroused  and  then  led  forward  in  the  right 
course,  it  receives  no  benefit  by  being  burdened  with  too 
many  questions.  This  sentiment  is  imbibed  from  long  prac- 
tice in  this  mode  of  examining  the  Scriptures."  To  guard 
against  "parrot  teaching"  and  "parrot  reciting,"  this  caution 
is  added,  "Too  many  questions  also  render  the  instruction 
mechanical  and  prevent  the  teacher  from  the  exercise  of  his 
own  powers."  The  new  helps  were  graded  and,  a*t  the  same 
time,  were  so  framed  as  to  meet  the  needs  of  all  Sunday- 
school  teachers  as  well  as  of  all  those  who  gave  instruction  in 
families — practically,  for  a  Home  Department.  Thus,  under 
family  instruction,  it  was  said  in  the  preface  to  the  first  volume, 
"Some  families  are  so  situated  that  their  children  cannot  be 
connected  with  any  school.  Some  parents  who  are  thus 
situated  have  already  introduced  this  system  of  teaching  their 
children  on  the  Sabbath,  either  before  or  after  the  time  of 
public  worship."  Here  is  a  Home  Department  early  estab- 
lished in  connection  with  the  first  system  of  uniform  lessons. 

Moreover,  a  book  of  questions  alone  was  found  to  be  in- 
adequate also  as  a  help  upon  the  new  system  of  lessons.  In 
response  to  wide  calls,  the  American  Sunday-School  Magazine 
and  other  journals  began  to  furnish  notes  and  comments  on 
the  same  system  of  lessons,  with  added  illustrations  and  ap- 
plications. Specimens  of  a  lesson  system  ascribed  to  James 
Gall  found  their  way  to  this  country  and  explanations  based 
on  his  plan  were  prepared  and  issued.  These  comprised  a 
five-fold  form  of  treatment  of  each  lesson  text;  that  is,  teach- 
ers' helps  in  five  distinct  forms  of  (1)  narrative,  (2)  questions, 


UNIFORM  LIMITED  BIBLE  LESSONS         111 

(3)  explanations,  (4)  symbols,  and  (5)  practical  lessons,  which 
were  issued  week  by  week  upon  the  same  lesson  text.  Many 
other  forms  of  helps  were  issued,  but  those  already  described 
give  a  fair  idea  of  the  multiplex  aids  provided  for  Sunday- 
school  teachers  who  used  this  early,  select  uniform  lesson 
system.  Many  others  in  more  permanent  form  and  of  wider 
scope  followed. 

Bible  Dictionaries. — Even  these  multiplied  aids  only  par- 
tially met  the  widespread  need.  Progressive  teachers  desired 
something  further  than  mere  notes  and  comments,  excellent 
as  they  were.  There  were  calls  for  a  comprehensive  but  in- 
expensive dictionary  of  the  Bible  and  for  similar  aids  in  Bible 
geography,  Bible  history  and  biblical  antiquities,  portable 
maps  of  Bible  lands,  and  a  cyclopaedia  of  manners,  customs 
and  habits  in  oriental  lands.  These  added  requisites  the 
American  Sunday-School  Union  undertook  to  provide,  secur- 
ing a  foremost  scholar  to  edit  a  dictionary  of  the  Bible,1  and 
another  to  prepare  a  work  on  biblical  antiquities,2  and  a  third 
on  Bible  geography,3  and  others  on  history — biblical  and 
ecclesiastical — so  that,  as  these  were  forthcoming  rapidly,  the 
new  system  of  uniform  lessons  produced  a  library  of  auxiliary 
books  bearing  upon  Bible  study.  Furthermore,  the  new 
system  required  special  study  and  preparation  on  the  part  of 
superintendent  and  teacher  in  respect  to  methods  of  instruc- 
tion, and  speedily  works  on  theories  of  education,  applicable 
to  Sunday-schools,  were  called  for;  since  it  was  difficult  for 
those  who  had  little  mental  training  to  master  expositions  of 
Scripture  and  to  have  facility  in  teaching  and  impressing  the 
Scriptural  doctrines.  As  Chancellor  Ferris  tersely  put  it: 
"The  searching  into  the  deep  meaning  of  the  sacred  volume 
called  for  other  auxiliaries.  Commentaries  were  required 
by  teachers,  or  some  substitutes.  As  few  teachers  could 
buy  them,  this  want  was  met  by  the  lectures  of  many  a  pastor, 
who  made  the  select  lessons  the  subject  of  his  weekly  exercise."4 
"And  then  appeared  in  rapid  succession,  Nevin's  Jewish 
(biblical)  Antiquities,  and  the  Bible  Dictionary  of  the  American 
Sunday-School  Union."  Chancellor  Ferris  adds,  "The  select 
lessons  requiring  the  question  book,  and  that  demanding  the 

1  Archibald  Alexander.  *  John  W.  Xevin. 

*  J.  H.  and  J.  W.  Alexander.  *  Isaac  Ferris,  Memorial  Discourse,  p.  46. 


112  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

expository  works,  marked  an  era  in  Sunday-school  instruc- 
tion." 

The  system  called  forth  a  multiplicity  of  helps  and  grades 
of  exposition,  as  well  as  question  books.  "The  American 
Sunday-School  Union,"  said  Chancellor  Ferris,  "has  most 
successfully  carried  out  the  propagation  of  question  books. 
It  has  thirty-four  distinct  books  of  different  grades,  namely, 
eight  for  young  children,  five  manuals  of  instruction  for 
young  Sunday-school  classes,  fifteen  question  books  proper 
for  Sunday-schools,  and  six  question  books  for  Bible 
classes."1 

In  New  York  City  alone,  nineteen  pastors  delivered  weekly 
lectures  on  the  select  lessons  for  the  ensuing  Sabbath,  during 
the  year  (1826).  An  evening  school  for  teachers  was  also 
recommended.2 

The  history  of  the  evolution  of  the  early  Select  Uniform 
Lessons  is  somewhat  surprising  to  the  reader  of  today.  The 
idea  sprang  up  spontaneously  in  various  widely  separated 
schools.  The  details  of  the  system  varied  somewhat  and  the 
introduction  and  use  of  the  lessons „  during  the  trial  years 
(1824-1828)  overlapped,  as  might  be  expected  in  any  new 
scheme,  in  the  process  of  evolution  and  introduction.  But 
each  successive  list  tended  to  improve  the  scheme. 

Five-Year  Lesson  Cycle  (1827). — This  select  uniform  system 
took  more  definite  form  in  New  York,  where  S.  W.  Seton,  W.  A. 
Tomlinson,  and  Anthony  P.  Halsey,  as  a  committee,  associat- 
ing with  themselves  the  Rev.  Albert  Judson,  prepared  an 
outline  course  of  lessons  to  be  put  before  the  public.  As  a 
result  of  trial  schemes  for  some  time,  a  course  of  five  years' 
lessons  was  decided  upon;  the  first  year  comprising  the  mission 
and  life  of  our  Lord,  the  second  year  studies  upon  the  parables 
and  teachings  in  the  Gospels,  for  the  third  year  it  was  first 
proposed  to  study  the  Epistles  and  the  founding  of  the  Church 
as  given  in  the  book  of  Acts,  but  this  was  changed  to  studies 
in  the  Old  Testament  for  the  third  and  fourth  years,  including 
Genesis  and  biographies  of  prominent  persons  therein.  The 
course  concluded  with  studies  in  the  book  of  Acts  for  the  fifth 
year. 

1  Isaac  Ferris,  Memorial  Discourse,  p.  47. 

*  Report  New  York  Sunday-School  Union,  1827,  p.  6.     Appendix,  p.  457. 


UNIFORM  LIMITED  BIBLE  LESSONS  113 

Many  changes  were  made  also  in  the  number  of  lessons  from 
year  to  year,  as  already  stated.  In  the  first  year's  course,  as 
announced,  there  were  forty-nine  lessons,  and  thirty-six  in  the 
second.  But  after  the  trial  years  the  number  of  lessons  was 
made  forty  in  each  year's  course.  The  other  twelve  Sabbaths 
in  the  year  were  given  to  reviewing  or  to  the  teaching  of  cate- 
chisms and  other  lessons  at  the  option  of  the  school.  This 
Five-Year  Cycle  of  Selected  Scripture  Lessons,  with  Judson's 
Questions  for  the  Second  Annual  Course  of  Instruction,  was 
issued  early  in  1827,  by  the  American  Sunday-School  Union 
and  ran  through  several  editions  within  that  year. 

Union  Questions — Nine-Year  Cycle. — The  earliest  helps  on 
the  lessons  were  those  already  described,  by  Judson,  Parmele, 
Fisk  and  others.  The  most  prominent  of  them  being  those  by 
Judson.  Judson's  were  twice  or  thrice  rewritten,  various  im- 
provements being  added  and  more  attention  was  given  to  the 
grading  of  the  instruction.  Early  in  1828,  the  best  features 
of  these  several  helps  wTere  combined  and  issued  under  the 
title  of  Select  Questions,  by  the  American  Sunday-School  Union. 

A  still  further  revision  and  improvement  followed  in  the 
grading  in  Union  Questions,  to  aid  teachers  in  adapting  in- 
struction to  scholars.  The  cycle  of  the  lessons  was  extended 
from  five  to  seven  years  and  eventually  to  eleven  years, 
with  a  twelfth  year  devoted  to  a  general  review  and  com- 
prehensive view  of  the  entire  Bible.  The  helps  and  Union 
Questions  upon  the  system  of  uniform  lessons  were  repeatedly 
revised,  before  the  First  National  Sunday-School  Convention 
of  1832,  and  immediately  after  it,  by  John  Hall  (afterward 
Rev.  John  Hall,  D.D.,  of  Trenton),  who  was  aided,  in  the 
final  revision  of  the  Union  Questions,  by  a  company  of  about 
fifty  leading  educators  to  whom  proofs  of  each  volume  were 
sent  for  revision  and  suggestion.  So  numerous  and  radical 
were  many  of  these  corrections  that  each  volume  had  to  be 
completely  rewritten  from  these  corrected  proofs.  The  repu- 
tation of  this  system  of  uniform  lessons  of  1826  and  onward, 
and  of  the  lesson  books  thereon,  is  indicated  by  the  circulation 
which  they  attained,  running  into  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
copies  and  totaling  some  millions. 

Public  Examinations. — In  some  cities  where  the  select  Scrip- 
ture lessons  were  introduced,  public  examinations  were  held. 


114  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

It  is  recorded  that  the  workers  in  the  schools  tried  to  avoid  all 
parade  and  distinction  among  the  scholars.  The  school  was, 
however,  brought  into  the  church  and  given  a  place  in  front  of 
the  pulpit  or  in  the  galleries,  sometimes  in  six,  eight,  or  ten 
divisions.  The  questions  were  asked  by  the  pastor  from  the 
pulpit  and  this  exercise  was  followed  by  a  short  address,  inter- 
spersed with  appropriate  hymns.  The  churches  were  thronged 
on  such  occasions  and  "the  audiences  were  astonished  to  see 
how  well  the  pupils  understood  what  they  had  committed  to 
memory  and  the  promptness  and  animation  with  which  they 
answered  the  questions."  These  public  examinations  were 
held  once  a  quarter,  or  at  other  stated  seasons,  and  served  to 
make  the  Sunday-school  work  more  widely  known  and  to  in- 
crease its  popularity. 

This  uniform  lesson  system  speedily  revealed  the  scarcity 
of  competent  teachers.  To  remove  this  difficulty  and  to  give 
a  thorough  acquaintance  "with  the  uniform  system  of  in- 
struction" and  with  the  best  plan  of  teaching  a  class,  the 
Union  proposed  the  establishment  of  a  school  for  teachers, 
which  should  be  conducted  either  by  the  wisest  and  most  ex- 
perienced of  those  engaged  in  the  work,  or  by  experts.1 

To  recapitulate  the  features  claimed  for  this  system:  (1)  it 
was  "a  uniform  series"  of  lessons — it  distinctly  proposed  to 
displace  the  earlier  schemes  which  overlapped  one  another, 
such  as  alphabetic,  spelling  and  reading,  memorizing  and 
"parrot  recitation,"  the  "story  plan,"  and  the  lecture  form  of 
instruction,  as  well  as  all  other  "Babel"  systems  of  lessons; 

(2)  it  was  a  system  of  study  comprehending  the  Bible — it 
first  included  five  annual  courses  of  lessons  and  then  was 
extended  to  seven  and  nine,  and  finally  eleven  years  of  study; 

(3)  it  specially  provided  for  reviews — weekly,  monthly  and 
quarterly.  It  also  provided  for  public  examinations  before 
crowded  assemblies.  It  gave  an  opportunity  for  definite 
instruction  upon  the  various  doctrines  peculiar  to  each  de- 
nomination of  Christians;  (4)  it  was  intended  for  national  use, 
being  recommended  by  ministers  and  leading  educators  in 
different  denominations,  and  its  universal  adoption  was  ex- 
pected, and  practically  attained.  The  Massachusetts  Sunday- 
School   Union   reported   its   general   use.     The   New   Jersey 

»  New  York  Sunday-School  Union  Report,  1827,  p.  7. 


UNIFORM  LIMITED  BIBLE  LESSONS  115 

Journal  said  it  was  used  everywhere  in  that  state  where  the 
plan  could  be  obtained.  The  demand  exceeded  the  supply. 
Other  states  reported  gain  in  efficiency  by  its  use  and  pre- 
dicted that  it  would  soon  overspread  the  land,  a  prediction 
which  was  practically  fulfilled;  (5)  it  called  forth  and  was  ac- 
companied by  numerous  graded  helps,  some  of  which  have 
already  been  described. 

In  1876  The  Sunday-School  Times  published  a  description 
of  this  plan  and  called  attention  to  the  similarity  of  the 
features  of  that  plan  and  the  International  Sunday-School 
Lessons  of  1872  that  were  then  in  use,  and  said:  "When  the 
new  features  of  the  present  system  of  lessons  [of  1872]  are 
clearly  pointed  out,  it  will  be  time  to  resume  the  discussion 
who  was  their  author." 

The  benefits  of  the  system  appeared  in  not  merely  the 
wider  knowledge  of  the  Scriptures,  but  also  in  wide-spread 
revivals  of  religion  throughout  the  country.  It  was  said 
that  the  circulation  of  one  series  of  helps  based  on  this  early 
scheme  of  uniform  lessons  was  computed  to  be  equal,  an- 
nually, to  about  seven-tenths  of  the  entire  number  of  teachers 
then  engaged  in  the  Sabbath-schools  of  the  United  States. 
It  was  also  widely  used  in  Canada  and  the  same  lessons  were 
introduced  into  the  Sabbath-schools  of  England  through 
reprints  by  the  London  Religious  Tract  Society.  So  it  be- 
came the  first  international  system  of  Bible  study.  The 
religious  journals  of  the  day  reported  news  of  the  revivals 
and  accessions  to  the  church  from  schools  in  nearly  every 
part  of  the  land  where  these  uniform  lessons  were  used. 
This  system  increased  a  general  demand  for  commentaries 
and  other  aids  to  Bible  study,  and  is  said  to  have  led  many 
biblical  scholars  to  put  the  results  of  critical  learning  in  more 
popular  form,  such  as  Barnes7  Notes,  and  other  like  works. 

Relation  to  Public  Instruction. — Sunday-schools  were,  and 
are,  deeply  indebted  to  the  theories  of  great  educators  and  to 
public  education  for  some  of  their  best  features.  On  the  other 
hand,  public  schools  have  been  greatly  aided  by  the  Sunday- 
school  movement.  The  debt  was  great  to  Sunday-schools, 
but  it  has  been  amply  paid  and  with  generous  interest. 

Intelligent  founders  and  friends  of  the  early  Sunday-school 
movement  gave  careful  study  to  the  various  theories  of  educa- 


116  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

tion  which  had  been  put  forth  and  which  were  current  in  their 
time.  There  were  several  fundamental  questions  to  be 
settled:  What  is  essential  in  education?  What  is  the  scope 
of  instruction?  What  are  fundamental  principles  in  educa- 
tion? Besides  these,  emerged  other  important  primary  ques- 
tions on  methods  of  instruction.  These  could  not  be  settled 
merely  by  public  discussion  or  by  a  convention  or  by  philo- 
sophic speculation.  No  body  of  men  coming  together  could 
theoretically  settle  the  principles  of  this  institution;  they  must 
be  developed  out  of  experience.  Bodies  of  men,  however 
wise,  cannot  make  principles;  they  may  discover  and  declare 
them. 

The  development  of  the  principles  of  education  was  gradual. 
It  is  not  straining  the  facts  to  say  that  nearly  every  system  of 
education  that  had  been  and  was  current  received  careful 
consideration  by  leading  Sunday-school  workers  in  the  first 
fifty  years  of  its  history.  Each  theory  was  studied,  sifted  for 
practical  features,  and  examined  in  a  severely  critical  manner, 
because  all  theories  of  education  were  then  in  a  fluid  state. 
Their  perception  of  this  condition  was  stated  in  the  follow- 
ing terse  terms:  "The  system  of  public  instruction  is  essen- 
tially retarded  by  the  want  of  qualified  teachers  and  suitable 
books."  Again  they  asserted:  "The  mass  of  uneducated  or 
miseducated  mind  is  already  appalling  and  is  increasing." 
"Where  education  has  the  largest  number  of  liberal  and  en- 
lightened friends,  .  .  .  even  there  we  find  the  prevailing 
modes  of  teaching  exceedingly  indifferent  and  mechanical.1 

Inductive  Theory. — This  judgment  was  not  the  result  of  a 
superficial  examination.  Many  were  familiar  with  the  induc- 
tive or  deductive  principle  suggested  by  Bacon,  and  the  out- 
lines of  education  proposed  by  Milton  and  Locke.  The  theory 
of  education  proposed  by  Pestalozzi  came  early  under  their 
critical  study.  In  fact,  one  of  the  earliest  notices  of  that  sys- 
tem in  English  was  made  in  a  Sunday-school  journal,  the 
criticism  being  based  on  a  study  of  the  French  edition,  before 
an  English  translation  appeared.  Elaborate  notices  of  the 
man,  his  work,  and  his  views  were  given  in  religious  and 
Sunday-school  teachers'  journals.  He  was  recognized  as  "a 
useful  and  true  philanthropist,"  but  they  discovered  faults  as 

1  Report  American  Sunday-School  Union,  1S31,  pp.  25,  26. 


UNIFORM  LIMITED  BIBLE  LESSONS  117 

well  as  virtues  in  his  system.  They  said,  "Nature  was  the 
goddess  of  the  scholastic  temple  reared  by  Pestalozzi."  Yet 
they  showed  a  candid  and  judicial  spirit  in  adding,  "The 
religious  faith  of  the  man  has  little  to  do  with  his  system.  .  .  . 
It  forms  no  good  reason  for  despising  his  methods."  From 
many  of  his  visionary  theories  they  sifted  those  that  they 
counted  sensible  and  substantial  and  applied  them  to  instruc- 
tion in  the  Sunday-school  so  far  as  they  thought  teachers  could 
be  made  to  understand  and  turn  them  into  practice. 

Theory  of  Spontaneity. — Froebel's  idea  of  spontaneity  was 
also  examined  because  it  was  regarded  as  more  devout  than 
that"  of  his  master,  Pestalozzi.  They  said  his  religion  began 
in  nature,  but  he  recognized  God  in  nature  and  man.  They 
criticized  his  system  as  irreligious  in  a  large  sense  because  it 
began  with  nature  instead  of  beginning  with  God.  But  the 
principles  which  he  suggested  as  applied  to  child  growth  and 
spontaneous  development  also  were  suggested  as  valuable  in 
Sunday-school  instruction. 

The  Word  Method. — The  popularity  of  Jacotot's  word 
method  of  teaching  pupils  to  read  attracted  their  attention. 
Jacotot's  rule  seemed  to  be  to  tell  the  pupil  nothing,  explain 
nothing,  insist  upon  nothing,  affirm  nothing.  The  pupil  was 
to  be  a  self-educated  person.  One  maxim  of  his  was,  "Learn 
something  thoroughly  and  refer  everything  else  to  it,"  and 
another  sensible  maxim  was,  "We  are  not  learned  merely  be- 
cause we  have  been  taught;  we  are  learned  only  when  we  have 
retained."  Of  course  it  would  follow,  "To  forget  is  the  same 
as  never  to  have  learned."  Here,  again,  the  Sunday-school 
workers  of  that  day  discerned  a  system  of  nature  carried  to 
its  logical  extreme,  and  amounting  well-nigh  to  a  mass  of 
negations,  if  not  to  practical  agnosticism.  Jacotot  put  some 
of  his  views  in  startling  form.  Thus  he  held,  "Real  learning 
is  not  the  offspring  of  hireling  teachers."  The  chief  value  of 
this  maxim  in  Sunday-school  work  was  that  it  could  be  turned 
as  an  argument  in  favor  of  voluntary,  unpaid  teachers. 

The  Monitorial  Theory. — Again  the  monitorial  and  mutual 
systems  of  Andrew  Bell  and  of  Joseph  Lancaster  were  gleaned 
to  enrich,  if  possible,  the  methods  of  instruction  in  Sunday- 
schools  at  that  early  day.  Dr.  Bell's  system  was  turned  to 
support  sectarian  or  church  instruction  only,  though  that  was 


118  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

not  a  necessary  feature  of  his  system.  Lancaster's  plan  was 
turned  the  other  way;  so  far  as  moral  instruction  was  to  be 
inculcated,  it  was  to  be  based  only  upon  the  Bible.  He  would 
exclude  the  teaching  of  all  creeds  and  denominational  pecu- 
liarities from  his  system.  As  he  visited  this  country,  his 
system  was  tried  and  for  a  time  was  said  to  have  had  "a 
powerful  collateral  influence  upon  the  history  of  Sunday- 
schools."1 

Lesson  Theory. — More  marked  and  practical  was  the  so- 
called  lesson  system  of  James  Gall.  But  Gall  was  charged 
with  lack  of  knowledge  of  the  child  mind.  His  plan  was  said 
to  be  copied  from,  but  inferior  to,  a  similar  one  outlined  by 
Thomas  Lyle  in  1675,  and  later  by  David  Stow.  Some  of 
the  critics  were  severe  enough  to  say  that  Gall's  system  pos- 
sessed "neither  philosophy  nor  common  sense,"  while  the 
earlier  writers  were  pronounced  "philosophical."  Gall's 
system  was  introduced  into  America  with  high  praise,  but  it 
did  not  win  great  favor.  Some  of  his  works  were  offered  to 
the  American  Sunday-School  Union,  and  some  features  com- 
mon to  the  earlier  lesson  system,  in  a  revised  form,  were  com- 
bined with  other  features  to  form  the  five-fold  lesson  helps  on 
the  early  uniform  limited  lessons  for  Sunday-schools  (1826- 
1850). 

American  schools  made  the  same  objection  to  Gall's  system 
that  those  in  England  had  done,  to  wit,  the  absence  of  in- 
struction except  on  words,  and  the  employment  only  of  direct 
catechetical  questions,  and  that  the  multitude  of  practical 
lessons  in  his  system  distracted  the  child's  attention  and  pre- 
vented him  from  gaining  clear  ideas.2 

Training  Theory. — An  advance  over  Gall's  system  was  pre- 
sented by  David  Stow  in  his  Training  System,  first  issued  be- 
fore 1830.  He  pointed  out  that  telling  was  not  teaching;  that 
teaching  or  instruction  was  not  training  the  child  as  a  whole. 
Mere  instruction  does  not  lead  the  child  to  make  the  truth  his 
own.  Stow's  Training  System  was  popular  in  England  for 
nearly  thirty  years,  but  it  failed  to  obtain  any  wide  popularity 
in  America.  The  leading  defects  of  the  system  appear  to  be 
a  lack  of  adaptation  except  to  the  youngest  infant  classes, 

»  Sunday-School  Trachers'  Magazine,  1831,  pp.  425-483,  ff.;  Sunday-School  Journal, 
1832,  passim. 

*  H.  Clay  Trumbull,  Teachers  and  Teaching,  pp.  178,  183-186. 


UNIFORM  LIMITED  BIBLE  LESSONS  119 

the  necessity  for  having  a  separate  room  for  each  class,  and 
the  want  of  a  proper  book  of  explanations  for  the  teacher's 
use. 

The  "Verse-a-Day"  Plan.— Of  the  "Verse-a-Day"  the  edi- 
tor of  The  Sunday-School  Journal  (Union)  says:  "It  is  a  simple 
plan  of  leading  the  whole  community  to  a  knowledge  of  the 
language  of  the  Bible  in  detached  portions.  .  .  .  There  are 
obvious  and  insuperable  obstacles  to  the  introduction  of  the 
verse-a-day  system  into  the  Sunday-schools  as  a  course  of 
instruction,  and  it  will  be  especially  undesirable  at  this  moment, 
when  the  evidence  is  flowing  in  upon  us  from  every  side  'that 
the  use  of  the  selected  lessons  has  been  found  a  principal  means 
of  promoting  extensive  revivals  in  Sunday-schools.'  "  In 
fact,  about  all  the  space  that  could  be  allotted  to  lesson  ex- 
planation was  given  to  comments  upon  the  selected  lessons 
which  were  often  quite  numerous.  Thus,  in  Lesson  12,  for 
1831,  there  were  twenty  paragraphs — each  paragraph  giving  a 
distinct  application  of  some  teaching  of  that  lesson  in  addi- 
tion to  extended  explanation. 

These  Sunday-school  leaders  had  a  clear  vision  of  the  whole 
field  of  education.  They  believed  that  any  system  of  educa- 
tion was  defective  which  did  not  include  moral  and  religious 
instruction  and  training  as  its  crown.  In  this  they  had  the 
approval  of  some  of  the  leading  public  educators  who  insisted 
on  the  need  of  training  the  entire  child  nature  to  produce  a 
stable  character.  Thus  the  then  superintendent  of  schools  in 
Connecticut  declared:  "Any  course  of  instruction  is  imper- 
fect which  does  not  embrace  the  harmonious  development  of 
the  whole  nature  of  the  child.  .  .  .  There  are  a  vast  number 
of  children  in  the  state  who  are  not  gathered  into  the  Sunday- 
school.  .  .  .  The  common  school  is  the  only  institution  which 
reaches  them,  and  any  serious  defect  there  is  vital,  as  regards 
those  who  have  no  other  means  of  education."1  Moreover, 
these  leaders  declared,  "Moral  education  with  the  great  mass 
of  citizens  is  a  question  of  reduction  of  taxation,"  or  perhaps, 
"with  the  wealthier  class  it  is  a  question  of  security"  of  Life 
and  property.2 

It  is  obvious  from  these  statements  that  great  educators 
contributed  no  little  to  the  structure  of  Sunday-schools  and 

i  Report,  1841,  p.  14.  *  Report,  1836,  p.  20. 


120  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

their  principles  and  methods  of  teaching.  It  is  equally  evi- 
dent that  Sunday-schools  have  had  a  strong  influence  upon 
public  education  by  giving  it  stronger  fiber  and  vitality. 
They  have  been  mutually  helpful  to  each  other  and  can  con- 
tinue in  a  large  measure  harmoniously  to  work  toward  a  satis- 
factory education  of  the  whole  man.  Statesmen  who  aided  in 
forming  the  educational  systems  in  the  middle  western  states 
testified  to  the  popular  sentiment  for  public  schools,  awakened 
by  the  pioneer  Sunday-schools. 

Bible  Doctrines. — In  connection  with  the  course  of  study 
projected  by  the  Union,  it  is  to  be  noted  that  in  their  intense 
zeal  for  their  peculiar  faiths  some  have  criticized  its  teaching. 
While  commending  in  general  the  good  work  of  the  American 
Sunday-School  Union,  they  insinuated  that  it  taught  only  a 
' 'milk-and-water  gospel"  and  thus  developed  a  kind  of  "jelly- 
fish, spineless"  religion.  The  Union  has  answered  this  base- 
less charge  by  pointing  to  the  sweeping  revivals  of  religion 
which  have  taken  place  wherever  its  schools  have  been 
planted,  and  to  the  number  of  reported  conversions  in  its 
schools  (thousands  every  year),  yielding  a  larger  percentage 
of  persons  confessing  Christ,  proportionately,  than  were 
reported  by  most  of  the  churches  in  those  denominations 
from  which  these  criticisms  came.  It  has  further  answered 
this  charge  by  pointing  to  the  fact  that  the  federation  of 
Protestant  churches  for  co-operation  and  work  rests  upon  the 
same  principles  that  were  the  basic  foundation  of  the  Union 
and  of  the  Evangelical  Alliance  in  1846,  and  of  the  modern  Fed- 
eration of  Churches.  That  for  a  century  the  Union  has  taught 
the  essential  doctrines  of  the  gospel  held  in  common  by  all 
evangelical  churches:  "The  doctrines  which  Christ  taught  and 
as  plainly  as  he  taught  them,"  and.that  because  of  this  adher- 
ence to  the  fundamental  truths  of  salvation  the  divine  bless- 
ing has  followed  the  teaching  in  their  schools  with  remarkable 
revivals  of  religion.  Their  annual  reports  afford  abundant 
proofs  of  these  statements. 

In  the  first  decade  of  the  twentieth  century  it  notes  that 
98,659  professed  conversions  were  reported  (besides  thousands 
uncounted)  and  1,062  churches  of  different  denominations  fol- 
lowed from  the  schools  it  planted,  and  that  305,000  copies  of 
the  Scriptures  were  provided  for  homes  found  without  the 


TREASURERS 


Hugh  De  Haven,  Jr.,  1818-26. 


Paul  Beck,  Jr.,  1827-39. 


Herman  Cope,  lS40-5^ 


Levi  Knowles,  1861-74. 


Richard  Aahhuret,  1881-1907 


UNIFORM  LIMITED  BIBLE  LESSONS  121 

Bible,  showing  that  the  same  blessed  results  continue  to  crown 
its  efforts. 

Perhaps  the  American  Sunday-School  Union  owes  a  part  of 
its  Christian  spirit  to  its  environment.  It  was  born  in  Phila- 
delphia. A  fundamental  principle  of  the  colony  was  religious 
toleration,  which  opened  the  way  for  co-operation  in  Christian 
work.  At  a  time  when  the  Puritan  was  punishing  or  expel- 
ling heretics,  and  the  Churchmen  of  Virginia  were  fining  schis- 
matics because  their  children  were  not  baptized  in  the  Episco- 
pal Church,  and  when  they  made  it  unlawful  for  anyone  to 
teach  the  young,  even  in  a  private  family,  Penn  and  his  asso- 
ciates in  Philadelphia  were  insisting  upon  liberty  of  conscience 
for  all  to  worship  God  according  to  their  own  faith.  A  century 
later  some  came  into  the  colony  bringing  a  spirit  like  to  that  in 
Virginia  and  New  England.1 

The  uniform  lessons  were  continued  in  the  Union  Questions, 
through  a  cycle  of  five  and  seven  years  successively.  This 
first  series  of  question  books  was  again  revised  and  ran 
through  one  or  more  successive  cycles  of  five  to  seven  years 
in  schools  of  different  denominations,  as  well  as  in  undenomina- 
tional or  Union  schools.  Thus  they  were  commended  as  the 
best  then  known  by  the  first  and  second  National  Sunday- 
School  Conventions  of  1832  and  1833,  and  again  by  the  National 
Convention  of  1859  the  Union  was  requested  to  revise  and 
re-issue  these  questions  as  still  well  adapted  to  the  ad- 
vanced departments  of  most  of  the  Sunday-schools  through 
the  country. 

The  generation  of  pupils  in  Sunday-schools  from  1840  to 
1865  was  accustomed  to  the  use  of  question  books  in  some 
form.  The  prevailing  custom  was  to  choose  series  of  lessons 
upon  which  the  books  of  questions  were  available.  For 
instruction  in  doctrines  peculiar  to  each  denomination  de- 
pendence continued  to  be  placed  upon  catechisms,  and  par- 
ticular Sundays  were  designated  for  this  purpose  for  schools 
using  the  Union  Questions  also.  In  the  latter  part  of  this 
period,  previous  to  1865,  the  larger  denominations  urged  the 
putting  forth  of  a  series  of  lessons  specially  intended  to  include 
the  doctrines  peculiar  to  each  denomination.  This  broke  up 
the  uniformity  of  lesson  study  throughout  the  country  and 

1  Penn  and  Religious  Liberty,  p.  25. 


122  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

created  a  crisis.  In  the  period  that  immediately  followed 
there  appeared  what  was  termed  "the  Babel  Series"  of  lessons. 

The  lessons  prepared  by  the  London  Sunday-School  Union 
for  use  in  Great  Britain,  from  1842  on,  were  used  to  a  limited 
extent  in  some  of  the  larger  schools  of  America.  Independent 
lessons  chosen  by  the  larger  schools  themselves,  as  suggested 
by  this  London  series,  were  adopted  and  in  use  among  schools  in 
different  parts  of  our  country.     This  system  was  largely  topical. 

The  Union  Questions  of  the  national  Society  were  followed 
by  a  series  of  explanatory  question  books  and  lessons  on  the 
New  Testament  chiefly,  while  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Sunday-School  Society  issued,  or  adopted  widely,  Orange 
Judd's  Lessons  for  Every  Sunday  in  the  Year,  from  1862  to 
1865.  In  1866  The  Sunday-School  Teacher  of  Chicago  pre- 
pared a  series  of  lessons  which  became  widely  popular.  Many 
adopted  the  series  of  Berean  lessons  by  John  H.  Vincent,  or 
the  Westminster  series  by  Henry  C.  McCook,  or  the  series  by 
Allibone  and  Newton  known  as  the  Explanatory  series  of 
lessons.  These  series  were  used  simultaneously  in  different 
sections  of  the  country.  They  were  the  connecting  link 
between  the  early  Uniform  Lessons  before  described*  and  the 
later  Uniform  Lesson  Systems  from  1872  to  the  present  time. 
A  sketch  of  this  latter  Uniform  Lesson  System  will  be  found  in 
another  section. 

SKETCHES    OF   PROMINENT    WORKERS 

Archibald  Alexander,  D.D.,  LL.D.  (1772-1851). 

Few  men  of  his  time  had  a  wider  influence  upon  the  religious 
life  in  America  than  Archibald  Alexander.  He  was  a  care- 
ful, not  to  say  profound,  thinker  upon  many  subjects  relating 
to  religious  education.  The  highest  tributes  of  respect  and 
veneration  were  paid  to  his  memory  by  leading  evangelical 
workers  of  all  denominations.  His  wise  counsels  were  often 
sought  and  always  cheerfully  given,  and  highly  prized  by  the 
founders  of  the  American  Sunday-School  Union.  His  sin- 
gularly astute  treatise  Vindication  of  Sunday-Schools,  and  on 
the  improvement  and  enlargement  of  plans  of  instruction, 
prepared  for  the  American  Sunday-School  Union,  won  the 
Society  a  multitude  of  friends  and  had  no  small  part  in  shaping 
its  polity.     He  commended  the  Society  strongly  because  in 


UNIFORM  LIMITED  BIBLE  LESSONS  123 

conducting  its  Sunday-schools  it  knew  "no  sect  but  Chris- 
tianity and  no  creed  but  the  Bible.' '  His  discussion  of  the 
character  of  the  literature  that  should  be  provided  for  Sunday- 
schools,  particularly  the  proportion  of  fiction,  was  judicious 
and  convincing.  It  is  also  noticeable  that  he  proposed  a  sys- 
tem of  improved,  graded  instruction  for  Sunday-schools.  He 
believed  that  biblical  instruction  should  include  all  classes 
from  the  infant  of  two  years  to  the  man  of  one  hundred  years; 
that  all  might  be  properly  classified  in  six  different  grades  or 
classes,  and  grouped  in  about  three  departments.  His  first 
two  grades  or  classes  would  include  what  are  now  called 
"Beginners,"  and  "Primaries";  his  third,  youth  until  com- 
pleting the  adolescent  period;  and  his  other  three  grades,  per- 
sons in  the  later  adolescent  period  to  old  age.  He  would  solve 
the  rural  problem  by  having  the  younger  classes  instructed 
early  in  the  day.  The  adults  should  meet  after  the  morning 
church  service  for  departmental  study,  under  the  direction 
and  inspection  of  the  pastor  and  other  qualified  persons. 
This  would  displace  and  solve  the  problem  of  a  second  church 
service  and  sermon.  It  may  surprise  some  of  the  present 
generation  who  are  discussing  "departmental  lessons"  to  dis- 
cover that  here  in  1829  this  versatile  scholar  clearly  outlines 
the  germ,  if  not  the  plan,  that  is  outlined  in  our  day  by 
Lesson  Committees. 

Dr.  Alexander  also  prepared  for  the  Union  the  first  compre- 
hensive, compact,  and  scholarly  dictionary  of  the  Bible  in 
America,  which  was  issued  in  so  cheap  a  form  as  to  be  avail- 
able for  teachers  of  the  most  limited  means.1  He  was  presi- 
dent of  Hampton-Sidney  College,  Va.,  1797  to  1806;  pastor  of 
the  Third  Presbyterian  Church,  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  1806  to 
1812;  and  professor  in  the  Theological  Seminary,  Princeton, 
New  Jersey,  1812  until  his  death  in  1851.  During  his  pastor- 
ate in  Philadelphia,  he  enlisted  laymen  in  plans  for  instructing 
children  of  the  poor,  and  in  sustaining  a  society  for  promoting 
Bible  study.  His  view  was:  "the  entire  church  should  be  a 
great  Sunday-school,  and  that  all  should  be  disciples  or  teach- 
ers." He  was  an  acute  and  careful  student  of  human  char- 
acter, and  attained  great  skill  in  the  analysis  of  its  many 

1  Suggestions  in  Vindication  of  Sunday-Schools,  1829  and  1845,  pp.  9,  17-23,  and  23-27, 
and  Reports  of  the  American  Sunday-School  Union,  passim. 


124  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

phases  as  related  to  religious  emotions  and  conduct,  which 
made  him  a  successful  instructor  and  a  helpful  writer  of  works 
for  preachers  and  teachers. 

Hon.  Willard  Hall  (1827-1875). 

Our  British  friends  were  greatly  surprised  that  the  Sunday- 
school  cause  in  America  should  early  receive  the  support  of 
eminent  merchants,  judges,  legislators,  and  statesmen  of  na- 
tional fame.  A  typical  specimen  of  this  class  was  the  Hon. 
Willard  Hall  of  Wilmington,  Delaware,  justice  of  its  supreme 
court,  and  manager  and  vice-president  of  the  American 
Sunday-School  Union  for  about  half  a  century — 1827-1875. 
His  activity  and  commanding  influence  in  the  movement 
were  so  prominent  that  he  was  unanimously  chosen  president 
of  the  Second  National  Sunday-School  Convention  at  Phila- 
delphia, May,  1833.  His  legal  training,  combined  with  an 
acute,  candid  and  judicial  mind,  qualified  him  to  defend  the 
principles  and  methods  of  the  Sunday-school  movement  at  an 
early  day  when,  added  to  the  great  and  effectual  door  open  to 
it,  it  had  "many  adversaries." 

Thus  the  American  Sunday-School  Union  was  attacked 
along  three  lines:  first,  for  calling  the  attention  of  the  public 
to  the  immoral  and  hurtful  literature  placed  in  the  hands  of 
youth.  This  the  Union  aimed  to  force  out  of  circulation  by 
the  introduction  of  new  and  better  books.  It  was  alleged 
that  the  Union  thus  interfered  with  the  liberty  and  rights  of 
readers  and  of  publishers  who  were  issuing  these  hurtful  and 
immoral  books.  Judge  Hall  defended  the  right  of  the  Sunday- 
school  movement  to  carry  on  a  warfare  against  such  harmful 
literature,  and  caused  the  great  majority  of  honest  publishers 
voluntarily  to  sign  a  declaration  commending  the  Union  in 
thus  creating  a  taste  for  good  reading  and  promoting  morality. 
The  second  charge — which  seems  humorous  if  not  almost 
silly  in  these  times — was  that  the  Union  and  the  Sunday- 
school  movement  attempted  to  proselyte  the  young  in  favor 
of  some  one  denomination.  Judge  Hall  made  short  work  of 
this  indictment  by  showing  that  the  Union  was  working  in 
the  interest  of  all  evangelical  churches  and  had  no  new  de- 
nomination to  set  up.  It  was  the  glory  of  the  Society  that  it 
opposed  sectarianism  and  proclaimed  the  principles  of  evan- 


UNIFORM  LIMITED  BIBLE  LESSONS  125 

gelical  Christianity.  The  third  accusation  in  those  days — 
that  it  aimed  to  become  a  political  power  in  the  state — was 
made  to  seem  ridiculous  under  the  trenchant  treatment  of 
Judge  Hall.  He  was  always  true  and  loyal  to  the  best  inter- 
ests of  the  cause  and  the  present  generation  owes  him  a  debt 
of  gratitude  for  his  skilful  and  abundant  labors.  Pamphlets 
giving  his  arguments  and  pleadings  in  justification  of  this 
work  on  a  Union  basis  had  a  large  circulation  and  a  wide  in- 
fluence in  correcting  misapprehensions,  removing  prejudices, 
and  winning  support.  The  judicial  candor  and  high  character 
of  the  author  and  his  full  and  lucid  presentation  of  facts 
carried  conviction  to  the  intelligent  and  fair-minded  public. 

Theodore  Frelinghuysen,  LL.D.  (1787-1862). 

Among  the  early  supporters  and  counselors  of  the  Ameri- 
can Sunday-School  Union  Theodore  Frelinghuysen,  educator, 
statesman,  and  scholar,  stands  in  the  foremost  rank.  He  was 
an  officer  during  its  infancy  and  continued  in  that  capacity 
for  thirty-five  years.  His  wide  learning,  his  keen  mind  and 
his  statesman-like  views  made  him  an  influential  personage 
in  all  measures  tending  to  alleviate  human  misery  and  mis- 
fortune and  to  give  better  conditions  to  the  wage-earner  and 
a  healthier  state  to  society.  He  was,  from  early  life,  a  teacher, 
and  then  superintendent,  in  a  Sunday-school,  counting  it  a 
greater  honor  to  fill  these  positions  than  to  be  a  senator  of  the 
United  States,  a  position  which  he  also  filled  to  the  satisfac- 
tion of  his  fellow-citizens.  He  was  invited  to  a  responsible 
position  in  the  service  of  the  American  Sunday-School  Union 
at  an  early  day,  but  a  field  of  usefulness  opening  to  him  in  the 
United  States  Government  caused  him  to  decline  the  Union's 
offer.  However,  on  public  occasions  he  always  advocated 
its  interests  with  force  and  eloquence,  and  gave  it  the  benefit 
of  his  professional  abilities  and  counsels  to  the  end  of  his  life. 

He  was  unanimously  chosen  president  of  the  first  National 
Sunday-School  Convention  in  New  York  in  1832,  where 
representatives  from  fourteen  states  and  four  territories,  in- 
cluding many  very  capable  men  from  different  sections  of  the 
country,  were  present.  The  novelty  of  this  assembly,  the 
topics  discussed,  the  eminence  of  the  speakers,  the  enthusiasm 
of  the  delegates,  and  the  consecrated  spirit  that  prevailed  in 


126  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

the  convention,  marked  it  as  an  epoch  in  the  progress  of  the 
Sunday-school  movement  in  America. 

Perhaps  Mr.  Frelinghuysen's  farsighted  and  well-balanced 
views  were  never  better  expressed  than  in  an  eloquent  address 
at  the  anniversary  of  the  American  Sunday-School  Union  in 
1835.  In  a  broad  and  statesman-like  manner,  he  forcibly 
declared  that  Sunday-schools,  while  laying  the  foundation  of 
public  and  private  integrity  and  intelligence,  provided  the 
strongest  preservation  of  our  liberties  and  of  our  rights  and 
the  best  guarantee  for  the  peace  and  good  order  of  society, 
and  that  they  therefore  deserved  the  patronage  of  the  states- 
man as  well  as  the  Christian.  He  is  one  of  the  great  and  good 
men  who  will  long  be  remembered  for  wise,  self-sacrificing 
and  blessed  service  rendered  to  his  fellow-men. 

John  Hall,  of  Trenton,  N.  J.  (1806-1894). 

At  the  anniversary  of  the  American  Sunday-School  Union, 
held  in  Trenton,  New  Jersey,  in  1890,  there  occurred  a  memor- 
able scene — the  Rev.  B.  W.  Chidlaw  of  Ohio,  held  up  before 
the  audience  a  time-stained  commission  which  he  had  received 
fifty-four  years  before,  signed  by  the  venerable  John  Hall. 
The  pioneer  missionary  and  the  old-time  secretary  had  never 
met  until  brought  together  at  this  anniversary.  As  the  two 
remarkable  workers  shook  hands,  Dr.  Hall  humorously  re- 
marked, referring  to  his  signature,  "I  can  write  better  than 
that  now."1 

John  Hall  was  born  in  Philadelphia,  August  11,  1806, 
educated  at  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  from  which  he 
was  graduated  in  1823,  and  was  admitted  to  the  practice  of 
law  in  1826.  In  1832  he  gave  up  law  practice  to  devote  his 
life  to  Christian  work,  becoming  a  manager  and,  later,  a  special 
secretary  of  the  American  Sunday-School  Union.  He  was 
office  editor  of  The  Sunday-School  Journal  and  of  The  Youth's 
Friend,  revised  the  first  five  volumes  of  Union  Questions, 
and  outlined  the  preparation  of  seven  other  volumes  of  the 
series.  He  wrote  and  compiled  several  other  works  for  the 
Union,  and  aided  in  directing  the  missionary  operations  of 
the  Society,  signing  the  commission  of  Dr.  Chidlaw  in  1836. 
The  knowledge  and  training  which  he  obtained  in  the  service 

i  Sunday-School  World,  1890,  p.  203. 


UNIFORM  LIMITED  BIBLE  LESSONS         127 

of  the  Union  qualified  him  for  the  gospel  ministry,  and  he 
was  settled  as  pastor  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  Trenton, 
New  Jersey,  in  1841,  a  position  which  he  retained  until  called 
home  at  the  ripe  age  of  88  years. 

Besides  preparing  several  works  for  the  American  Sunday- 
School  Union,  he  was  the  author  of  a  number  of  other  works 
published  by  the  Presbyterian  Board  of  Publication,  de- 
livered a  course  of  lectures  in  Princeton  Theological  Seminary 
and,  for  a  time,  filled  its  chair  of  pastoral  theology,  and 
received  his  degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity  from  Princeton 
University  in  1850. 

Dr.  Hall,  besides  possessing  a  commanding  personality,  was 
esteemed  an  able  scholar,  a  vigorous  and  careful  writer,  and 
an  instructive  and  impressive  preacher. 


SECTION  IV 

OPPOSITION   TO   SUNDAY-SCHOOLS  AND  TO   UNIONS 

When  Christians  are  awake  and  revivals  are  abroad,  the 
devil  is  said  to  get  busy.  When  Sunday-schools  in  America 
began  to  achieve  success,  opposition  became  pronounced. 
The  Sunday-school  was  born  of  the  spontaneous  impulse  of 
individual  Christians  of  different  creeds — primarily  and 
voluntarily  a  union  movement.  It  was  not  favored  in  the 
early  days  by  any  ecclesiastical  body.  It  was  not  begun  by 
any  resolution  or  decree  of  a  church  council.  It  was  not,  at 
first,  admitted  into  the  churches,  but  was  held  in  private 
houses  or  halls  hired  for  the  purpose,  as  heretofore  stated. 

Why  Opposed. — The  opposition  appeared  in  three  or  more 
phases:  (1)  Against  the  purpose  and  plan  of  the  Sunday- 
school;  (2)  against  its  introduction  into  the  church;  (3)  against 
the  principle  of  union,  upon  which  schools  were  early  founded 
and  conducted. 

As  in  England,  so  in  America;  in  some  quarters  it  was 
regarded  as  a  desecration  of  God's  house  to  hold  a  Sunday- 
school  within  it.  It  seemed  to  some  a  desecration  of  the 
Sabbath  to  teach  the  ignorant  to  read,  even  to  the  end  that 
they  might  read  the  Bible  for  themselves.  This  latter  objec- 
tion prevailed  widely  in  America,  even  so  late  as  1817,  when  in 
a  public  meeting  in  New  York  a  speaker  alluded  to  it  in  this 
forceful  language:  "An  objection  has  been  frequently  made 
to  this  institution  [the  union  Sunday-school]  on  the  ground 
that  to  teach  the  poor  to  read  on  the  Sabbath  is  a  breach  of 
that  holy  day.  ...  A  breach  of  the  Sabbath  to  teach  the 
vicious  and  illiterate  to  read  and  to  value  their  Bibles!  A 
profanation  of  the  Sabbath,  through  the  medium  of  the  Scrip- 
tures, to  dispel  the  mists  of  ignorance,  and  to  open  the  flood- 
Rates  of  divine  light  on  the  regions  of  moral  darkness!  To 
break  the  fetters  of  transgression  by  the  all-powerful  agency 
of  the  Word  of  the  holy  God!" 
128 


OPPOSITION  TO  SUNDAY-SCHOOLS  129 

Others  hesitated  to  favor  the  Sunday-school  because,  in 
their  view,  it  would  interfere  with  family  religious  training. 
They  held  that  family  instruction  had  divine  sanction,  but 
they  incorrectly  inferred  that  it  would  be  obstructed  by 
"such  a  man-devised  agency"  as  a  Sunday-school.  Dr. 
Thomas  Chalmers  had  forcibly  answered  this  sophistical  and 
false  view  by  showing  conclusively  that  the  Sunday-school 
would  have  a  beneficial  and  not  a  baneful  influence  on  family 
instruction.  His  answer  was  reprinted  and  widely  circulated 
in  America. 

Again  some  evangelistic  workers,  like  those  who  were  asso- 
ciated in  the  Evangelical  Society  in  Philadelphia  (1809-1811), 
looked  with  suspicion  upon  this  new  movement.  Like  the 
evangelistic  workers  in  London,  they  said  the  Sunday-school 
was  good  as  far  as  it  went,  but  it  did  not  go  far  enough.  "We 
need,"  said  they,  "an  institution  to  teach  practical  religion 
in  more  decided  and  definite  forms."  So  they  stood  aloof,  or 
patronizingly  permitted  it.  Some  opposed  the  Sunday-school 
because  they  thought  it  was  too  sectarian  in  character,  while 
others  said  it  was  too  latitudinarian.  The  same  criticisms 
were  later  made  upon  the  American  Sunday-School  Union. 
Still  others  apprehended  a  union  of  church  and  state  and  a 
political  domination  that  would  be  destructive  to  the  liberties 
of  the  people.  Most  of  these  objections  seem  trivial  now, 
although  a  few  of  them  are  still  whispered  in  certain  circles. 

But  in  the  face  of  this  opposition,  Sunday-schools  were 
constantly  visited  by  singular  and  remarkable  revivals  of 
religion  which  uplifted  the  poor  and  ignorant  and  worked 
moral  revolutions  in  communities.  This  was  a  significant 
mark  of  divine  sanction.  Thus  attested,  they  gradually  won 
their  way  into  Christian  favor  and  into  the  various  churches. 

Opposition  to  Organized  Union. — There  is  a  bit  of  history 
long  since  forgotten  which  illustrates  the  opposition,  mis- 
representation, and  persecution  to  which  the  friends  of  the 
Union  were  treated  about  a  century  ago.  Because  some 
ecclesiastics  feared  these  schools  would  prove  detrimental  to 
denominational  progress,  they  would  not  allow  them  in  the 
church.  Hence  most  of  the  early  Sunday-schools  were  con- 
ducted on  the  union  basis  from  necessity,  until  they  demon- 
strated their  beneficent  purpose  and  won  popular  favor. 


130  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

When  the  American  Sunday-School  Union  asked  the 
Legislature  of  Pennsylvania  for  an  act  of  incorporation  under 
its  present  name  the  request  developed  bitter  opposition. 
The  Union  simply  desired  to  be  made  legally  responsible  for 
its  debts,  and  for  the  carrying  forward  of  its  benevolent  work 
in  a  more  public  manner.  This  request  was  made  in  1824, 
and  1825,  and  again  in  1827.  It  was  signed  and  endorsed  by 
foremost  citizens  of  Philadelphia,  including  business  men  and 
leading  book  publishing  houses. 

Readers  now  will  hardly  believe  that  the  request  was  held 
up  because  of  a  formal  remonstrance  against  it  by  persons 
professedly  "liberal"  in  religion,  and  by  some  connected  with 
"orthodox"  faiths.  These  opponents  conceded  a  high  per- 
sonal character  to  the  citizens  who  formed  the  Union.  They 
insisted,  however,  that  the  institution  was  dangerous;  that  it 
threatened  the  liberty  of  the  people;  that  it  concealed  its 
real  purpose,  and  underneath  an  ostensible  aim  to  promote 
education  there  lurked  a  great  plot  "to  subject  the  consciences 
and  persons  of  the  free  citizens  of  this  United  States  to  the 
tyranny  of  an  ecclesiastical  domination";  "that  numerous 
highly  respectable  associations  are  openly  proscribed"  [the 
Sunday-School  Union  was  evangelical  and  aimed  to  unite  all 
persons  in  its  work  who  accepted  the  fundamental  Bible  doc- 
trines held  in  common  by  all  evangelical  denominations]; 
"that  the  children  brought  into  these  schools  are  to  be  in- 
structed ...  in  the  illiberal  and  narrow  views  of  men"; 
and  that  the  "necessary  results  of  incorporating  it  will  be  a 
monopoly,  both  spiritual  and  temporal,  alike  repugnant  to 
the  genius  of  the  Constitution  and  destructive  to  the  future 
exertions  of  many  enterprising  individuals." 

The  Society  had  had  a  charter  from  the  courts  under  its 
earlier  name,  in  1819.  Then  it  was  young  and  not  so  widely 
conspicuous.  It  is  quite  obvious  that  the  "many  enterprising 
individuals"  who  opposed  it  included  some  who  were  gaining 
a  living  or  making  money  by  dishonest  and  questionable  occu- 
pations— the  liquor  interest,  gamblers,  and  other  persons 
whose  business  might  be  imperiled  by  the  teaching  of  Sunday- 
schools. 

Charter  Remonstrants. — This  "remonstrance"  was  followed 
up  by  a  remarkable  appeal  "To  the  People  of  the  State  of 


OPPOSITION  TO  SUNDAY-SCHOOLS  131 

Pennsylvania"  on  the  "Alarming  Progress  of  the  American 
Sunday-School  Union!"  This  document,  reminds  one  of  the 
sophistries  and  specious  arguments  of  the  Liquor  Trust  to 
save  the  liquor  traffic  from  being  abolished  by  the  righteous 
indignation  of  the  people.  These  foes  to  the  charter  of  the 
American  Sunday-School  Union  found  pliant  politicians  in 
the  Senate.  The  speeches  of  two  senators  who  opposed  grant- 
ing the  charter  have  come  down  to  us.  One  asserted  that  if 
this  charter  were  granted  in  a  few  years  the  Union  might  be- 
come such  a  powerful  institution  that  any  politician  who  was 
an  infidel  would  find  "his  political  life  terminated' ' — a  remark- 
able testimony  to  the  efficiency  of  Sunday-school  instruction 
even  in  those  days! 

Moreover,  the  granting  of  the  charter  was  attacked  upon 
strangely  contradictory  grounds.  One  urged  that  it  be  not 
granted  "to  this  potent  engine  of  clerical  usurpation";  another 
that  it  should  not  be  granted  because  the  reverend  clergy 
were  excluded  from  the  Union,  and  laymen  only  controlled  it. 
It  was  insinuated  that  there  was  a  very  crafty  plan,  like 
the  proverbial  cat,  concealed  in  this  Union  meal;  that,  by 
excluding  the  clergy,  the  friends  of  the  Union  tacitly  con- 
fessed the  danger  to  religious  liberty  from  that  quarter.  One 
of  the  senators  sought  to  strengthen  his  argument  against 
the  Union  by  asserting  that  "the  respectable  sect — the 
Methodists  .  .  .  were  not  in  favor  of  the  Union.  .  .  .  They 
disliked  national  societies  for  religious  purposes."1  The 
speeches  of  both  senators  were  reprinted  in  the  New  York 
Christian  Advocate  and  Journal  of  that  day,  with  sympathetic 
editorial  remarks  which  led  five  managers  of  the  Union,  who 
were  also  prominent  members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  to  send  a  specific  correction  of  some  mis-statements 
and  a  denial  of  certain  alleged  facts  in  the  speeches,  upon 
which  the  editorial  remarks  were  based.  Thus  the  five 
members  denied  "any  preponderating  influence  of  any  one 
denomination  in  the  councils  of  the  American  Sunday-School 
Union.  Were  such  the  fact,  they  would  have  discovered  it," 
they  asserted,  "since  the  majority  of  them  had  been  managers 
of  the  Society  since  its  first  organization,  had  generally  at- 
tended the  meetings,  and  had  taken  part  in  its  discussions 

1  Legislative  Proceedings,  February  7,  1828. 


132  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

and  had  voted  on  the  questions  presented."  They  further 
asserted  their  belief  that  "this  hostility  to  the  Union  sprang 
chiefly  from  a  real  opposition  to  all  Sabbath-schools,  and  to 
the  essential  doctrines  of  the  Bible  itself." 

It  is  little  wonder  that  the  legislators  became  befogged  and 
failed  to  grant  the  charter.  Happily,  the  American  Sunday- 
School  Union  was  able  to  carry  forward  its  work  as  a  volun- 
tary organization  for  twenty  years  without  a  charter.  Then 
another  set  of  lawmakers  came  to  the  front  and,  moved  by 
strong  public  sentiment,  not  to  say  shame  and  indignation, 
cheerfully  granted  the  charter  in  1845.1  (Appendix,  pp.  461, 
462.) 

This  opposition  will  not  seem  so  strange  when  one  recalls 
the  religious  history  of  that  period  and  the  sharp,  often  bitter, 
controversies  that  prevailed  over  creeds  and  dogmas.  These 
controversies  engendered  unchristian  feeling,  albeit  they  sprang 
from  a  sincere  conviction  of  truth  as  some  saw  it.  Naturally, 
those  who  were  contending  for  denominational  teaching  be- 
lieved that  religious  instruction  of  the  children  should  be 
strictly  along  the  lines  of  their  particular  church  -creeds. 

However,  when  Sunday-schools  were  visited  with  the  re- 
vivals already  noted,  and  were  enthusiastically  sustained  by 
the  common  people,  it  was  somewhat  remarkable  to  note  the 
change  of  view  on  the  part  of  some  later  leaders.  Some  of 
them,  with  singular  blindness  to  the  humor  of  it,  even  sought 
to  claim  the  credit  for  originating  this  movement,  because 
some  of  the  founders  were  lay  members  of  their  church.  This 
appeared,  they  thought,  to  give  them  a  kind  of  original  patent 
on  the  origin  of  the  movement  and  in  some  cases  they  claimed 
that  the  American  Sunday-School  Union  was  founded  by  the 
church,  and  forgot  that  their  predecessors  had  stoutly  opposed 
it.  Thus  a  writer  in  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  claims 
that  the  Sunday-school  movement  began  in  that  church,  and 
he  would  imply  that  it,  rather  than  individuals  should  be 
credited  with  the  founding,  among  others,  of  the  American 
Sunday-School  Union.2  Some  writers  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  have  asserted  that  the  earliest  Sunday- 

1  See  Christian  Advocate  and  Journal,  1828;  Episcopal  Watchman,  1827-29;  Church 
Register,  1828,  for  passing  statements;  Brownlow's  Address,  1831;  The  Charter — Plain 
Statement  of  Facts — 1828. 

1  The  American  Church  Sunday-School  Magazine,  1904-05;  also  Rev.  Oscar  S.  Michael, 
The  Sunday-School  in  the  Development  of  the  American  Church,  p.  69,  ff. 


OPPOSITION  TO  SUNDAY-SCHOOLS         133 

school  in  America  was  established  by  a  bishop  or  preacher  of 
that  church.  Other  writers  in  the  same  church  declared,  in 
earlier  days,  that  the  Presbyterians  founded  the  American 
Sunday-School  Union  and  were  aiming  to  make  it  a  national 
organization  strong  enough  to  cause  Presbyterianism  to  be 
established  in  America  by  law.1  The  Congregationalists  also, 
among  others,  have  been  credited  with  being  accessories  be- 
fore the  fact,  since  their  faith  was  said  to  be  an  easy  solvent 
of  all  creeds. 

Perhaps  it  was  only  human  to  expect  that  an  organized 
union  of  Sunday-schools  would  meet  with  decided  opposi- 
tion. The  spirit  of  federation  and  comity  and  co-operation  is 
even  yet  on  trial  and  is  not  an  accomplished  fact. 

The  American  Sunday-School  Union  was  confronted  by 
another  opposing  phase,  springing  from  the  diversity  in 
evangelical  churches.  If  Union  Sunday-schools  continued  to 
teach  and  emphasize  the  essential  doctrines  of  the  Bible,  the 
non-essentials  which  divide  the  churches  might  be  overlooked, 
and  there  might  follow  a  dangerous  lowering  of  the  denomina- 
tional fence.  To  overcome  this,  and  to  emphasize  denomina- 
tional views,  a  decided  movement  for  the  organization  of 
denominational  Sunday-school  unions  was  started,  each  de- 
nomination forming  one  for  itself.  Thus  in  1826  a  union  of 
all  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Sunday-school  societies  was 
projected  in  Philadelphia,  under  the  leadership  of  Bishop 
White,  which  resulted  in  the  formation  of  the  Protestant 
Episcopal  Sunday-School  Union.  Bishop  White  had  been  in 
sympathy  with  the  founding  of  the  First  Day  or  Sunday- 
School  Society  in  1790  for  teaching  the  ignorant  and  neglected 
classes  outside  of  the  church.  But  in  1817  when  it  was  pro- 
posed to  form  the  Sunday  and  Adult  School  Union  to  reach 
children  inside,  as  well  as  outside,  of  the  churches,  he  threw  his 
influence  in  favor  of  a  denominational  union.  Probably 
similar  influences  led  to  the  formation  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Sunday-School  Union  in  the  same  year.  Similar 
organizations  were  formed  also  by  other  denominations. 

This  multiplication  of  Sunday-school  unions  naturally  con- 
fused the  public  mind.  It  was  not  easy  to  distinguish  the  one 
from  the  others,  and  communications  and  contributions  in- 

>  W.  G.  Brownlow,  Sunday-Schools,  1831,  p.  20,  ff. 


134  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

tended,  for  example,  for  the  American  Sunday-School  Union 
sometimes  found  their  way  to  one  of  the  denominational 
Sunday-School  unions,  and  vice  versa.  Some  worldly  people 
smiled  over  what  they  counted  the  shrewdness  of  denomina- 
tional leaders  in  appropriating  the  name  "Sunday-School 
Union"  to  their  denominational  organizations.  Of  course 
this  embarrassed  the  American  Sunday-School  Union  more 
than  other  early  unions  because  it  was  the  national  Society 
of  this  name.  Yet  it  rejoiced  that  the  denominations  were 
aroused  actively  to  look  after  the  children  within  their  respec- 
tive churches. 

The  opposition  to  the  American  Sunday-School  Union  was 
ultimately  turned,  by  the  blessing  of  God,  to  its  advantage. 
It  constrained  some  of  the  ablest  and  most  godly  men  in 
several  evangelical  bodies  to  come  out  in  open  defence  of  the 
Union's  work  on  the  union  principle,  as  the  Hon.  Willard  Hall 
of  Delaware,  Hon.  Theodore  Frelinghuysen  and  Archibald 
Alexander  of  New  Jersey,  Lyman  Beecher  of  Massachusetts, 
the  Breckenridges  of  Kentucky,  and  hosts  of  other  leading 
men.  They  were  loyal  to  their  denomination,  but  they  were 
Christians  first,  and  then  denominationalists.  Moreover,  the 
common  people  in  America  proverbially  love  f airplay.  They 
might  care  little  for  religion,  but  because  they  wanted  every 
person  and  institution  to  have  a  fair  chance  in  this  free 
country,  especially  those  aiming  to  do  good,  they  generally 
favored  the  American  Sunday-School  Union  having  a  "square 
deal"  at  the  hands  of  the  people. 

In  religious,  as  in  civil,  matters,  history  repeats  itself. 
There  are  periods  of  ecclesiastical  high  tides,  followed  often 
by  popular  waves  in  favor  of  co-operation,  of  comity,  and 
unity  in  religious  work.  The  zeal  for  founding  Sunday- 
schools  and  for  uniform  lessons  in  1826  brought  about  a  little 
later,  as  we  shall  presently  see,  a  great  wave  in  favor  of  co- 
operation and  union,  which  gave  efficiency  to  these  efforts. 
There  began  to  dawn  on  earnest  souls,  a  conviction  that  a 
disunited  Protestantism,  and  a  divided  Christianity  could 
never  conquer  the  world  for  the  Christ.  Later  there  followed 
again  an  ecclesiastical  high  tide  for  teaching  "distinctive  doc- 
trines," for  using  "denominational  literature,"  and  for  making 
very  young  children  familiar  with  the  "peculiar  phraseology" 


MANAGERS 


Lewis  R.  Ashhurst,  1839-73. 


Alexander  Brown,  1857-93. 


J.  Livingstone  Erringer,  1863-1905. 


John  R.  Whitney.  1873-1905. 


OPPOSITION  TO  SUNDAY-SCHOOLS  135 

of  the  religious  faiths  which  the  workers  respectively  repre- 
sented. Such  high  tides  of  ecclesiasticism  prevailed  before 
the  origin  of  the  modern  Sunday-school.  They  have  contin- 
ued all  through  its  history  at  irregular  periods,  and  have  ex- 
erted a  powerful  influence  upon  its  progress.  A  broad  states- 
manlike view  of  this  history  inclines  one  to  say,  it  is  better  to 
have  agitation  than  stagnation.  But  it  is  best  to  have  all 
Christians  banded  together  for  the  conquest  of  the  world  for 
Jesus  Christ. 

SKETCHES    OF    PROMINENT    WORKERS 

James  Waddell  Alexander  (1804-1859). 

James  Waddell  Alexander,  son  of  Archibald  Alexander,  was 
a  teacher  and  preacher  of  exceptional  natural  gifts,  qualify- 
ing him  to  illustrate  practical  ways  to  use  the  diversified 
truths  taught  by  his  father.  He  was  a  warm  advocate  of  the 
work  of  the  American  Sunday-School  Union,  as  educator, 
pastor,  and  author.  He  wrote  upward  of  thirty  volumes  for 
teachers  and  youth,  which  were  issued  by  the  Society.  They 
were  conspicuous  for  their  versatility  of  style  and  the  diversi- 
fied topics  treated.  His  American  Sunday-School  was  an 
eminently  practical  work  upon  the  position,  management, 
and  influence  of  that  institution  in  American  fife,  and  was 
frequently  quoted  by  writers  and  workers.  His  Good,  Better, 
Best  was  an  exceedingly  suggestive  volume  upon  three  ways  of 
aiding  the  poor  and  the  ignorant  to  make  the  most  of  their 
fives.  His  Carl,  the  Young  Emigrant  forcibly  brought  to  the 
attention  of  the  American  people  the  religious  instruction 
which  should  be  given  to  the  young  immigrants  pouring  into 
America  from  every  nation  of  the  world.  Other  volumes 
pointed  out  practical  ways  of  religious  training,  and  stimulated 
many  a  young  lad  to  make  the  best  and  most  out  of  his  life. 
His  contributions  to  religious  education  along  these  four,  and 
other  great  lines,  were  among  the  most  valuable  of  their  day. 
His  Scripture  Guide,  and  Biblical  Geography,  which  he  pre- 
pared jointly  with  his  erudite  brother,  Joseph  Addison  Alex- 
ander, were  valued  for  their  concise  and  accurate  information, 
and  for  nearly  a  generation  were  the  companions  of  his  father's 
Dictionary  of  the  Bible  and  of  Dr.  John  W.  Nevin's  Biblical 
Antiquities,  all  of  which  were  issued  by  the  Union. 


136  LTHE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

Abraham  Martin  (1793-1880). 

The  life  and  labors  of  Abraham  Martin,  better  known  as 
"Father"  Martin,  were  closely  interwoven  with  the  early 
progress  of  the  Sunday-school  cause  in  America  for  two 
generations.  Mr.  Martin  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the 
earliest  schools  organized  with  voluntary  teachers  in  Phila- 
delphia. It  was  then,  as  now,  the  banner  city  in  Sunday- 
school  activity.  Previous  to  1800  a  mixed  plan  prevailed  in 
Sunday-schools  of  having  one  or  more  paid  superintendents  or 
supervising  teachers  with  other  teachers  volunteering  to  give 
their  services  without  pay.  This  mixed  system  was  not  satis- 
factory and  was  superseded  by  the  schools  choosing  superin- 
tendents as  well  as  teachers  who  would  serve  on  the  voluntary 
plan.  With  all  his  earnestness,  young  Martin  was  discreet — 
as  young  persons  in  those  days  were  compelled  to  be  in  relig- 
ious work.  If  too  energetic  and  forward,  they  were  regarded 
as  officious,  and  often  reminded  of  what  was  counted  their 
proper  place  in  the  rear  of  the  Lord's  hosts.  But  young 
Martin's  zeal  was  contagious,  and  Ins  activity  irrepressible. 
He  gradually  won  his  way,  through  good  service,  into  the 
various  small  Sunday-school  organizations,  and  was  a  dele- 
gate from  the  Galilean  Society  (Reformed  Dutch)  to  the 
representative  meeting  called  to  consider  the  formation  of  the 
Sunday  and  Adult  School  Union  in  1817.  The  records  show 
that  he  was  enthusiastic  in  persuading  prominent  citizens  to 
join  in  the  support  and  management  of  that  society,  although 
he  does  not  appear  to  have  accepted  any  official  position  in  it. 
But  when  that  earlier  union  was  changed  into  the  American 
Sunday-School  Union  in  1824,  Abraham  Martin  became  record- 
ing secretary  for  about  four  years — 1825  to  1828. 

His  energy  and  abilities  secured  him  a  call  to  supervise  an 
"Infants'  Retreat"  in  Germantown,  Pa.,  where  he  had  the 
care  of  over  two  thousand  little  ones.  Later  he  was  the 
representative  of  the  Sabbath  Association.  These  societies 
he  served  for  nearly  twenty  years,  until  1851.  He  then  re- 
sumed his  activities  in  special  Sunday-school  service,  becoming 
a  manager  of  the  American  Sunday-School  Union  in  1852  and 
until  his  death,  November  8,  1880.  His  tact  and  devotion 
in  Christian  work  led  to  his  appointment  as  a  lay  Sunday- 
school  evangelist,  a  service  which  he  had  undertaken  as  a 


OPPOSITION  TO  SUNDAY-SCHOOLS  137 

voluntary  worker  before  1820,  and  which  he  resumed  in  the 
last  fifteen  years  of  his  life,  being  sustained  by  a  special 
fund  created  by  his  friend,  Robert  Lenox  Kennedy  of  New 
York. 

Mr.  Martin  was  versatile  and  resourceful,  ready  for  any 
emergency  and  alert  to  promote  every  advance  in  Sunday- 
school  methods.  Thus,  in  1817,  when  juvenile  religious  books 
were  sought  for  publication,  Mr.  Martin  laid  a  package  of 
carefully  selected  English  works  before  the  managers  of  the 
Sunday  and  Adult  School  Union,  from  which  their  first  book, 
Little  Henry  and  His  Bearer,  by  Mrs.  Sherwood,  was  selected 
and  republished  as  the  pioneer  booklet  of  the  Union,  to  be 
followed  by  millions  of  copies  of  similar  juvenile  books  within 
a  few  years. 

He  was  likewise  alert  and  successful  in  Sunday-school  ex- 
tension. As  lay  evangelist  of  the  Union,  he  reported  assist- 
ing in  the  organization  of  over  one  hundred  mission  schools, 
out  of  which  had  grown  twenty-six  churches,  some  of  them 
being  very  prominent,  and  modestly  added,  "many  persons 
have  been  converted  therein.' ' 

John  Wanamaker  gives  this  reminiscence  in  a  letter  to 
Dr.  Rice: 

"You  may  not  remember  that  Bethany  Sunday-school 
owed  its  inspiration  to  a  boy  who  attended  a  convention 
called  by  the  American  Sunday-School  Union  to  awaken  an 
interest  in  establishing  mission  Sunday-schools  in  Philadel- 
phia. I  was  that  boy,  and  the  result  of  it  was,  two  weeks  later 
the  same  boy  came  down  to  the  American  Sunday-School 
Union  and  found  Mr.  Abraham  Martin  to  advise  with  him 
as  to  the  best  locations  in  the  city.  Through  "Father" 
Martin,  Edward  H.  Toland  suggested  the  southwestern 
section  of  the  city,  which  had  largely  been  given  up  to  the 
scope  of  rangers.  It  was  there  that  Bethany  Sunday-School 
began,  and  it  is  there  that  Bethany  Sunday-School,  with  its 
church  of  3,400  members,  still  holds  the  fort." 

Father  Martin  was  a  stimulating  speaker,  and  schools  of  all 
denominations  in  the  city  welcomed  him.  Hundreds  of 
persons  recalled  with  delight  his  clear,  ringing  voice  and 
charmingly  simple  manner.  He  was  accustomed  to  hold  up 
a  small  red  book,  about  an  inch  square,  which  he  called  the 


138  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

smallest  book  in  the  world,  entitled  Small  Rain,  filled  with  the 
most  precious  messages  from  God's  Word.  The  secret  of 
his  power  was  in  the  simplicity  of  his  faith,  the  fervency  of 
his  prayers,  and  his  exceptional  generosity.  He  was  known 
to  pledge  and  to  give  a  thousand  dollars  at  a  time  out  of  his 
small  income.  He  won  confidence  by  his  meekness  and  his 
simple-hearted,  yet  tactful  and  devoted  spirit.  Did  contro- 
versy or  friction  arise  in  any  deliberative  meeting,  he  would 
spontaneously  lead  in  prayer,  and  speedily  the  bitterness 
would  disappear  and  the  spirit  of  harmony  and  love  be  restored 
in  the  assembly.  He  was  an  inspiration  to  his  associates, 
who  cherished  the  memory  of  his  humble  and  blessed  service 
as  an  efficient  workman  who  "needeth  not  to  be  ashamed." 


SECTION  V 

CREATING   JUVENILE   LITERATURE 

Religious  literature  for  the  Sunday-school  was  a  neces- 
sary adjunct  to  its  permanence.  One  of  the  biggest  problems 
that  confronted  the  workers  was  to  develop  religious  litera- 
ture adapted  to  American  youth. 

Juvenile  Literature  in  1800. — At  the  beginning  of  the  last 
century  children's  books  of  that  kind  in  general  circulation 
were  few,  even  when  such  works  as  The  New  England  Primer, 
The  Pilgrim's  Progress,  Robinson  Crusoe,  and  Webster's  spell- 
ing book  were  included.  This  is  the  testimony  of  such  wit- 
nesses as  President  Humphrey  of  Amherst  College,  Dr.  T.  H. 
Gallaudet  of  the  Deaf  and  Dumb  Institution,  Hartford,  and 
others  who  were  young  in  those  days  and  later  came  into 
national  prominence.  Dr.  Gallaudet,  for  instance,  says  that 
a  dozen  books  of  this  type  could  be  found  only  by  counting 
several  primers  and  toy  books,  like  Glass  Slipper,  Goody  Two 
Shoes,  Blue  Beard,  and  Who  Killed  Cock  Robinf  J.  R.  Case  of 
Philadelphia  testified  that  Jack  the  Giant  Killer,  Puss  in  Boots, 
Cinderella,  and  similar  toy  works,  exhausted  the  literature  for 
children  in  1800.  This  was  the  result  of  an  inquiry  by  Fred- 
erick A.  Packard  made  in  1850,  as  editor  of  the  Union's  publi- 
cations.    (Appendix,  p.  462.) 

It  is  evident  from  Dr.  Packard's  inquiry,  however,  that  the 
eminent  persons  he  reached  had  not  been  familiar  with  some 
of  the  children's  books  which  were  in  existence,  in  their 
childhood.  It  is  computed  that  between  1744  and  1802, 
John  Newbery  and  his  successors  published  about  "three 
hundred  volumes,"  of  which  two  hundred  were  classed  as 
juveniles  by  him.  These  so-called  "volumes"  were  mere 
primers,  which  Newbery  secured  through  the  editorial  aid  of 
Dr.  Samuel  Johnson,  Oliver  Goldsmith,  and  others.  There 
is  a  tradition  that  Goldsmith  roomed  on  the  upper  floor  of 
Newbery's  house  for  a  time,  and  wrote,  among  other  things, 

139 


140  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

the  History  of  Giles  Gingerbread,  Goody  Two  Shoes,  The  Way 
to  be  Happy,  and  various  other  short  stories  intended  to  please 
the  little  ones.  They  did  not  please  the  hypochondriac  temper 
of  Dr.  Johnson.  A  number  of  the  works  which  Newbery  put 
forth  in  England  were  reprinted  in  "pirated  editions"  by 
Isaiah  Thomas  of  Worcester,  Massachusetts.  He  was,  how- 
ever, a  "beneficent  pirate,"  for  he  adapted  many  of  these 
English  works  to  America,  by  putting  them  into  a  "more 
colloquial  phrase."  They  did  not  gain  much  circulation  in 
America,  however,  until  about  1810  to  1830.  Nor  were  many 
of  them  distinctively  juvenile:  not  a  few  of  them  were  nursery 
rhymes.  Dr.  Johnson  did  not  favor  them.  He  said,  "Babies 
do  not  want  to  hear  about  babies.  .  .  .  They  like  to  be  told 
of  giants  and  castles  and  of  somewhat  which  can  stretch  and 
stimulate  their  little  minds." 

So  too,  the  neurasthenic  bacchanalian  bachelor,  Charles 
Lamb,  ranked  these  same  nursery  rhymes  as  English  "Classics," 
and  cursed  the  graded  and  more  sensible  works  of  Mrs.  Bar- 
bauld,  Mrs.  Trimmer  and  their  "whole  crew."  Neither  of 
these  ancient  critics,  who  were  childless  themselves  .and  based 
their  opinions  on  observing  their  neighbors'  or  borrowed 
children,  would  be  accepted  as  authoritative,  if  they  were 
living  in  this  generation.  Students  of  child  development, 
now  would  laugh  such  critics  "out  of  court."  The  Newbery 
works  may  have  been  ''nursery  classics"  in  that  age,  but 
justly  deserved  the  speedy  oblivion  into  which  the  irri- 
table bachelor  lamented  they  had  disappeared  even  in  his 
lifetime. 

Clearly,  therefore,  a  juvenile  literature  of  a  religious  type 
must  be  evolved,  and  a  taste  and  demand  for  it  created.  The 
magnitude  of  this  task  can  hardly  be  conceived  now,  flooded 
as  we  are  with  millions  of  volumes  intended  to  interest  the 
young.  The  managers  of  the  Union  had  trained  minds, 
children  of  their  own,  and  also  a  clear  vision  and  decided  con- 
viction in  respect  to  the  kind  of  literature  needed.  They 
said:  "In  the  days  of  our  fathers  and  even  in  the  childhood  of 
some  middle-aged  persons  among  us,  entertaining  and  in- 
structive little  books  of  a  religious  tendency  were  few  indeed; 
and  when  a  youth  had  perused  Janeway's  Token  for  Children, 
The  Pilgrim's  Progress,  and  The  Holy  War,  where  could  he 


EDITORS 


Trederick  A.  Packard,  LL.  D.,  1829-67. 


John  Hall,  1832-38. 


John  S.  Hart,  LL.  D.,  1858 


Richard  Newton,  D.  D..  1867-77.  S.  Austin  Allibone.  LL.  D.,  186S-78 


CREATING  JUVENILE  LITERATURE  141 

find  another  volume,  except  the  Bible,  in  which  experimental 
religion  is  attractively  exhibited  in  the  forms  of  colloquy  and 
narrative?"  Janeway's  Token  and  Bunyan's  Holy  War  would 
fail  to  attract  youth  now! 

They  grappled  with  and  mastered  the  great  task — at  least 
in  their  own  estimation.  Some  will  marvel  that,  in  a  single 
generation,  a  juvenile  literature  was  produced  that  was  so 
widely  read  as  to  work  a  complete  revolution  in  the  reading 
habits  and  in  the  moral  taste  of  a  large  portion  of  the  American 
people.  The  rules  adopted  were  radical  and  would  be  deemed 
drastic  in  their  severity  in  these  days.  But  to  them  it  seemed 
necessary  to  purify  and  to  keep  pure  the  reading  for  the 
young.  Their  first  rule  was  to  secure  works  of  a  thoroughly 
evangelical  character.  They  said,  "The  broad  impress  which 
we  wish  all  our  books  to  bear  is  that  of  vital,  active,  elevated 
piety,  leading  children  to  the  knowledge  and  fear  of  God,  and 
to  a  cheerful  observance  of  all  his  commands.' '  They  had  a 
vision  of  danger  in  creating  an  appetite  for  new  books  because 
they  are  new.  The  appetite  might  become  abnormal  by  in- 
dulgence. They  sought  to  obviate  this  danger  without  losing 
the  good  in  it,  by  presenting  such  literature  as  would  give  in- 
struction as  well  as  be  interesting — literature  the  children 
would  read  and  remember. 

Parents  and  children  alike,  however,  had  to  be  waked  up 
and  informed  so  as  to  judge  more  accurately  of  the  true 
nature  and  character  of  books  and  literature  suitable  for  child 
reading.  They  further  insisted  that  this  literature  for  the 
young  should  be  true  to  fact  and  to  nature.  They  say,  "It 
is  never  to  be  forgotten  in  the  composition  of  children's  books 
that  language  which  is  simple  enough  to  clothe  a  child's 
thoughts  is  not  too  simple  to  express  the  conception  of  an 
angel."1 

Character  of  Literature  Demanded. — They,  in  fact,  required 
four  things  of  the  literature:  First,  it  must  be  clearly  and 
absolutely  of  a  moral  and  religious  character;  second,  it  must 
be  graded  and  adapted  to  the  capacity  of  the  growing  mind 
of  the  child;  third,  it  must  be  of  a  high  order  of  style  and 
fairly  good  literature;  and  fourth,  the  books  should  be  Ameri- 
can and  for  American  children.     They  declared,  on  the  last 

1  Report,  1831,  p.  21. 


142  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

point:  "We  have  no  need  to  go  abroad  for  subjects  and  scenes 
of  interest.  American  divines,  statesmen  and  benefactors — 
American  mountains,  forests,  prairies  and  rivers — American 
history,  hopes  and  prospects — may  surely  furnish  subjects 
enough  of  grateful,  profitable  and  interesting  contemplation  to 
American  children."1 

The  managers  of  the  American  Sunday-School  Union  had  a 
feeling  similar  to  that  which  forcibly  impressed  Dr.  Oliver 
Wendell  Holmes  forty  years  later.  He  graphically  described 
the  difficulties  to  understand  in  his  youth  some  of  the  current 
books  for  children.  Thus,  "It  is  a  great  misfortune  to  us  of  the 
more  elderly  sort,"  he  wrote,  "that  we  were  bred  to  the  con- 
stant use  of  words  in  English  children's  books,  which  were 
without  meaning  for  us  and  only  mystified  us. 

"We  were  educated,  you  remember,  on  Miss  Edgeworths' 
Frank  and  Parents1  Assistant;  on  Original  Poems,  and  Evenings 
at  Home,  and  Cheap  Repository  Tracts,  [Hannah  More].  Then 
we  found  ourselves  in  a  strange  world,  where  James  was 
called  Jem,  not  Jim,  as  we  always  heard  it;  where  a  respect- 
able but  healthy  young  woman  was  spoken  of  as*  'a  stout 
wench';  where  boys  played  at  taw,  not  marbles;  where  one 
found  cowslips  in  the  fields,  while  what  we  saw  were  butter- 
cups; where  naughty  schoolboys  got  through  a  gap  in  the 
hedge,  to  steal  Farmer  Giles'  red-streaks,  instead  of  shinning 
over  the  fence  to  hook  old  Daddy  Jones'  baldwins;  where 
Hodge  used  to  go  to  the  alehouse  for  his  mug  of  beer,  while 
we  used  to  see  old  Joe  steering  for  the  grocery  to  get  his  glass 
of  rum;  .  .  .  where  there  were  larks  and  nightingales  in- 
stead of  yellow-birds  and  bobolinks;  where  the  robin  was  a 
little  domestic  bird  that  fed  at  the  table  instead  of  a  great, 
fidgety,  jerky,  whooping  thrush. 

"What  a  mess — there  is  no  better  word  for  it — what  a  mess 
was  made  of  it  in  our  young  minds  in  the  attempt  to  reconcile 
what  we  read  with  what  we  saw!" 

The  facilities  of  transportation  now  in  some  measure  de- 
crease the  misfortune  of  youth  in  Dr.  Holmes'  day  and  in  the 
period  when  the  Sunday-School  Union  was  formed,  as  some 
Americans  by  travel  become  somewhat  familiar  with  British 
scenery  and  habits.     But  it  is  still  true  that  the  mass  of  youth 

1  Report,  1831,  p.  20;  also  Appendix,  p.  463. 


CREATING  JUVENILE  LITERATURE  143 

in  America  would  not'  easily  understand  phrases,  habits  and 
scenery  springing  out  of  British  society  and  surroundings. 
Some  works  are  so  cosmopolitan  in  spirit  as  to  be  widely 
understood,  but  the  mass  of  literature  for  a  nation's  need,  and 
especially  for  its  children's  need,  should  spring  out  of  the 
nation's  life  and  have  its  color  and  setting  in  the  national 
scenery  and  customs. 

Of  course  these  conditions  called  for  a  radical  departure 
from  methods  then  current  with  editors  and  publishers  of 
literature.  It  required  a  revision  of  works  already  issued,  and 
often  a  revision  and  change  of  original  works  prepared  ex- 
pressly for  the  public. 

Probably  for  these  reasons  the  books  and  literature  of  the 
American  Sunday-School  Union  were  issued  anonymously  for 
many  years.  Their  character  was  certified  by  the  imprint  of 
the  Society  and  the  statement  on  the  title  page  of  each  work 
that  it  had  been  "revised  by  the  committee  of  publication"; 
or,  if  it  was  an  original  work,  they  stated  that  it  was  "written 
for  the  American  Sunday-School  Union,  and  revised."  When 
the  author's  name  was  placed  on  the  title  page  (which  was 
rare),  as  in  the  case  of  the  Vindication  of  Sunday-Schools,  by 
Archibald  Alexander,  D.D.,  and  the  Dairyman's  Daughter,  by 
Legh  Richmond,  the  works  were  printed  without  alteration, 
or,  if  changed,  the  consent  of  the  author  was  secured.  (Ap- 
pendix, pp.  463,  464.) 

They  invariably  adhered  to  this  custom  as  announced  to  the 
public  in  1824.  A  few  years  later  they  say:  "No  book  has 
received  the  imprint  [of  the  Society]  but  with  the  consent  of  at 
least  three  members  of  different  denominations  of  Christians; 
and  in  no  instance  has  a  publication  been  ordered  against  a 
single  dissenting  voice.  Nor  has  this  harmony  been  preserved 
with  difficulty,  and  only  by  the  aid  of  imposed  restraints  on 
the  freedom  of  thought  and  discussion.  It  has  flowed  from  a 
union  of  feeling,  arising  from  the  influence  of  common  motives 
and  the  impulse  of  a  common  aim." 

Thus  the  Union  iterated  and  reiterated  its  intention  in 
respect  to  the  character  of  its  literature.  All  its  works  must 
contain  "Gospel  truth,"  "free  from  gross  errors,"  "in  pleasing 
form";  must  be  "thoroughly  biblical  and  evangelical,"  "popular 
in  style,"  while  "pure  in  tone,  serious  rather  than  sensational; 


144  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

filled  with  the  spirit  of  the  Word";  not  the  spirit  of  the  world. 
Yet  they  must  be  adapted  to  the  progressive  development  of 
child  mind  as  apprehended  in  that  era,  and  must  be  thor- 
oughly American  in  their  coloring  and  environment:  their 
illustrations  drawn  from  what  American  children  actually 
saw. 

Moreover,  besides  awakening  a  taste  for  this  literature  by 
making  it  attractive  with  engravings  and  bright  thinking,  the 
purpose  was  to  increase  a  demand  for  it  by  putting  it  at  a  very 
low  price,  selling  it  to  the  public  without  profit,  often  even 
below  cost. 

Fiction  or  No  ? — A  strong  controversy  prevailed  in  regard  to 
certain  classes  of  literature,  whether  they  should  be  excluded 
or  included  as  works  healthy  for  young  children.  This  con- 
tention was  especially  sharp  in  regard  to  works  of  the  imagi- 
nation and  of  fiction.  Many  moralists,  pastors,  and  some 
Sunday-school  societies  insisted  that  all  fiction  should  be  ex- 
cluded. To  the  managers  of  the  American  Sunday-School 
Union  this  rule  seemed  strict  and  drastic,  for  it  might  exclude 
The  Pilgrim's  Progress  and  indeed,  might  prevent  the  Society 
from  reprinting  the  story  of  the  Prodigal  Son — both  of  which 
are  certainly  in  the  region  of  the  imagination  as  to  literary 
form.  Therefore  in  regard  to  works  of  the  imagination,  the 
Union  required  that  they  should  be  in  "strict  accordance  with 
truth  and  nature."  "This  quality,"  they  say,  "is  as  effectually 
preserved  in  The  Pilgrim's  Progress  as  in  the  Life  of  Washing- 
ton— in  the  story  of  the  Prodigal  Son  as  in  the  history  of  Ste- 
phen's martyrdom."1 

They  put  the  matter  thus:  "The  principle  which  would 
exclude  from  children's  libraries  every  book  which  gives  false 
or  unnatural  views  of  life,  character,  or  duty,"  should  be 
scrupulously  applied  to  all  literature.2  They  recognized  how 
toy  books  and  primers  had  appealed  to  the  imagination  of  the 
young,  and  they  considered  how  gradually  and  carefully  they 
must  proceed.  "A  transition  too  sudden  and  bold  from  the 
silly  stories,  the  very  titles  of  which  disgrace  the  annals  of 
education,  to  such  books  as  Sketches  from  the  Bible  and  Anna 
Ross  might  defeat  the  whole  object."  "It  was  a  prodigious 
leap  for  a  child  to  pass  from  Robinson  Crusoe  to  the  Life  of 

I  Report,  1831,  p.  23.  ■  Ibid.,  p.  24. 


CREATING  JUVENILE  LITERATURE  145 

Henry  Martyn  and  from  Mother  Goose's  Melodies  to  Taylor's 
or  Watts'  Hymns  as  sources  of  moral  improvement."1  Never- 
theless they  succeeded  in  aiding  the  child  to  pass  from  one  to 
the  other  without  taking  a  kangaroo  leap. 

The  literature  which  they  sought  to  develop  was  of  widely 
varied  types.  It  included  history,  biography,  travels,  con- 
versations, narratives,  poetry,  hymns  and  songs,  discourses 
and  didactic  teachings;  in  short,  it  was  a  comprehensive  and 
real  literature  for  the  young. 

Engravings  Appeal  to  Eye-gate. — Nor  did  the  Union  over- 
look the  importance  of  the  eye-gate  in  gaining  attention  to 
various  forms  of  truth  and  increasing  the  impressions  it 
might  give  through  the  use  of  skilful  engravings.  It  early 
employed  special  artists  and  engravers  and  designers  who  used 
their  best  skill  in  designing  and  producing  engravings  for  its 
publications  in  what  was  then  an  attractive  mechanical  style; 
engravings  which  were  adapted  to  the  substance  and  literary 
forms  of  the  works  which  it  issued.  Of  course  the  contrast 
between  those  pictures — of  two  or  three  generations  ago — 
and  those  of  the  present  time,  indicates  forcibly  the  progress 
of  art  in  making  juvenile  literature  attractive. 

It  was  recognized  that  much  of  this  literature  must  be 
suited  to  the  domestic  circle  and  the  home.  But  it  must  also 
be  of  a  character  which  would  justify  its  circulation  through 
the  Sunday-school,  and  therefore,  for  the  most  part,  by  im- 
plication, proper  to  be  read  on  the  Sabbath  Day.  In  some 
sections  of  the  country,  however,  where  the  extreme  Puritan 
idea  prevailed,  it  was  counted  difficult  to  develop  a  literature 
of  a  type  sufficiently  religious  or  pious  to  pass  the  approval  of 
those  holding  extreme  Puritanic  views,  and  at  the  same  time 
make  it  sufficiently  attractive  to  be  read  by  the  young.  While 
the  Union  desired  to  issue  works  of  the  highest  possible  relig- 
ious type,  it  had  the  clear  sense  and  discrimination  to  aim  to 
produce  works  that  would  be  read. 

Moral  Works. — Moreover,  it  sought  to  provide  a  clean  and 
helpful  literature  for  those  communities  remote  from  towns 
and  from  any  public  library  (and  public  libraries  were  not 
common  in  the  earlier  days).  To  this  end  it  issued,  in  con- 
nection with  the  London  Religious  Tract  Society,  sets  of  books 

»  Report,  1830,  p.  13. 


146  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

written  in  attractive  and  instructive  style  for  the  young,  on  a 
wide  variety  of  topics  not  strictly  or  wholly  religious.  Thus, 
these  works  presented  the  facts  in  respect  to  the  stars  and 
astronomy,  but  in  a  reverent  rather  than  in  a  skeptical  spirit. 
The  Union  issued  an  original  Life  of  George  Washington,  with 
a  particular  design  to  present  prominently  ' 'those  moral  and 
religious  traits  in  the  character  of  Washington  which  consti- 
tuted his  highest  and  most  honorable  distinction."  This 
work  was  written  by  a  niece  of  a  signer  of  the  Declaration 
of  Independence,  Anna  C.  Reed,  an  accomplished  literary 
woman;  and  the  work,  though  published  without  a  name,  was 
translated  into  over  twenty  languages  in  a  few  years  and  had 
a  circulation  probably  unequalled  by  any  other  life  of  the 
Founder  of  the  American  Republic. 

Libraries  for  Schools  and  Families. — The  Sunday-School 
Union,  before  1824,  had  issued  under  its  first  name  about 
eighteen  works.  The  first  book  published  by  it,  in  1817,  was 
Mrs.  Sherwood's  Little  Henry  and  His  Bearer.  By  1830  the 
American  Sunday-School  Union  had  issued  over  6,000,000 
copies  of  Sunday-school  works,  200  bound  volumes  for  libra- 
ries, started  a  Teachers7  Magazine,  and  two  other  periodicals, 
expended  annually  over  $76,000  in  promotion  of  the  cause, 
had  in  its  connection  6,000  schools,  60,000  teachers,  and  over 
400,000  scholars,  and  one-half  of  its  schools  reported  in  1833 
that  2,607  teachers  and  6,121  scholars  had  professed  Christ 
in  that  year  alone. 

But  this  circulation  of  literature  was  gained  on  a  benevolent, 
rather  than  on  a  commercial  basis.  It  was  then  counted  as 
wise  to  promote  religious  education  through  the  printed  page 
as  by  the  living  missionary.  Gifted  and  philanthropic  workers 
entered  with  spirit  into  the  purpose  of  the  Union  because  they 
saw  the  large  opportunity  for  good,  and  they  cheerfully  con- 
tributed some  of  their  best  work  to  promote  so  excellent  an 
object.  Many  of  these  works  delighted  readers  for  more  than 
a  generation.  They  enabled  the  small  rural  communities  to 
have  a  free  circulating  library  on  a  plan  at  once  simple  and 
effective.  The  origin  of  the  plan  has  been  ascribed  to  Benja- 
min Franklin.  As  early  as  1827,  free  circulating  libraries  were 
popular,  so  that  it  was  said,  "It  is  now  common  for  Sabbath- 
schools  to  enjoy  the  benefits  of  an  interesting  and  instructive 


CREATING  JUVENILE  LITERATURE  147 

library."  The  plan  was  for  a  school  to  secure  voluntary  con- 
tributions for  the  purchase  of  books  to  make  up  such  a  library 
on  the  understanding  that  every  one  should  be  allowed  to 
take  books  out  without  pay.  It  proved  a  successful  scheme  for 
creating  a  taste  for  good  reading  and  in  promoting  popular 
education.  It  was  computed  that  a  sufficient  number  of 
volumes  were  issued  within  a  few  years  to  give  at  least  one 
book  every  two  weeks  in  every  home  in  the  republic.  In 
fact,  towns  and  districts  were  induced  to  found  free  circulat- 
ing libraries,  because  of  the  popularity  of  this  scheme  of  free 
circulating  Sunday-school  libraries. 

Referring  to  the  multiplication  of  some  classes  of  books 
purporting  to  be  for  Sunday-schools,  the  Union  said:  "Many 
of  them  are  calculated  to  do  irreparable  mischief.  Some  will 
be  found  to  contain  the  most  unnatural  and  unscrupulous 
views  of  Christian  character;  others  again  studiously  avoid 
so  much  as  an  allusion  to  the  religious  relations  and  obliga- 
tions of  parents.  Some  strenuously  advocate  the  peculiar 
views  of  a  denomination  on  whose  patronage  they  depend, 
and  others  would  have  children  to  believe  that  religion  itself 
is  nothing  but  a  system  of  conflicting  creeds  and  imposing 
dogmas.  In  a  word,  some  inculcate  nothing  that  is  right,  and 
others  everything  that  is  wrong."  These  strong  words  indi- 
cate how  careful  the  managers  of  the  Union,  and  especially 
its  committee,  were  in  guarding  against  circulating  improper 
works. 

Juvenile  Hymns  and  Songs. — The  American  Sunday-School 
Union  not  only  aimed  to  provide  a  juvenile  literature,  but  it 
sought  to  displace  the  rollicking  and  ribald  songs  by  cleaner 
and  purer  lyrics  set  to  attractive  music.  It  was  a  common 
proverb  then,  "The  devil  has  all  the  popular  songs."  Practi- 
cally there  were  no  moral  songs  or  hymns  of  note  for  children 
in  1800  to  1810,  except  the  small  collection  of  Watts'  Divine 
and  Moral  Songs,  Roland  Hill's  Divine  Hymns  in  Easy  Lan- 
guage, and  Jane  and  Ann  Taylor's  Original  Hymns  for  Sunday- 
Schools. 

There  were  collections  of  hymns  for  children  a  century 
earlier,  but  those  of  any  importance  issued  from  1700  to  1800 
could  be  counted  on  the  fingers  of  a  person's  hand.  Foremost 
among  them  stands  the  little  book  by  Isaac  Watts.     His 


148  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

Songs  for  Children  was  among  the  last  of  his  lyric  writings. 
It  is  remarkable  that  half  a  century  before  the  rise  of  the 
modern  Sunday-school,  a  batchelor  and  semi-invalid  should 
have  composed  hymns  for  children  which  were  joyously  sung 
by  the  little  ones  for  more  than  a  century,  and  which  made 
them  better  and  wiser  for  the  singing.  Mother  love  in  its 
tenderness  finds  one  of  its  best  expressions  still  through  the 
simple  rhythmic  strains  of  the  "Cradle  Hymn."  The  most 
forcible  lesson  against  quarreling  was  taught  by  the  quaint 
verses  of  "Let  Dogs  Delight/ '  and  a  lesson  of  industry  was 
happily  taught  in  the  song  of  "The  Busy  Bee."  These  songs 
were  not  written  for  the  Sunday-school,  yet  it  is  rare  to  find 
such  vigorous  moral  lessons,  so  happily  and  strongly  ex- 
pressed, in  modern  Sunday-school  hymn  books.1 

Divine  Hymns  in  Easy  Language,  by  the  famous,  but  eccen- 
tric Rowland  Hill,  were  designed  as  an  appendix  to  the  valu- 
able songs  for  children  by  Dr.  Watts  (as  the  author  says), 
and  were  intended  to  be  used  by  Sunday-schools  of  his  day. 

1  Critics  since  the  days  of  Isaac  Watts  have  differed  widely  in  their  estimate  of  his 
life  and  works.  Although  his  theology  was  regarded  as  having  a  liberaMendency  in  his 
own  age,  he  had  a  dismal  view  of  human  nature.  It  has  been  said  of  him  that  tender  as 
he  was  toward  children  he  regarded  them  with  a  sort  of  compassionate  shudder.  Thus 
he  writes: 

"What  young  ferments  of  spite  and  envy,  what  native  wrath  and  rage  some- 
times are  found  in  the  little  hearts  of  infants  and  sufficiently  discovered  by 
their  little  hands  and  their  eyes  and  their  wrathful  countenances  even  before 
they  have  learned  to  speak  or  to  know  good  and  evil.' 

gai*'Cast *a  glance  at  the  sports  of  children  from  five  to  fifteen  years  of  age;  what 
have  all  these  little  tovs  and  fooleries  in  them  that  would  be  fit  for  young  angels 
dressed  in  flesh  and  blood?     Would  so  many  years  of  early  life  have  been 
wasted  in  such  mean  and  trifling  diversions  by  a  race  of  holy  and  rational 
beings?  and  how  much  early  iniquity  and  mischief  m  thought,  word  and 
action  is  mingled  with  these  sportings  among  the  younger  tribes  ol  mankind, 
God  only  knows."2 
Some  excuse  for  these  seemingly  harsh  words  may  be  found  in  the  fact  that  Watts 
was  a  precocious  but  broken-in-health  youth.     Real  childhood  he  can  scarcely  have  been 
Baid  to  have  ever  had.     C.  J.  Abbey,  in  Religious  Thoughts  in  Old  English  Verse  p.  352, 
speaks  of  Watts'  Songs  for  Children— some  of  them— as  exciting  a  smile.     In  otner  in- 
stances they  are  tinged  apparently  with  the  gloom  of  a  part  of  his  theology.     .But,  as  a 
whole,  they  well  deserve  the  favor  they  have  gained.     Their  homely  simplicity  com- 
mends itself  to  children  and  clings  to  their  memories.     They  are  likely  long  to  outlive 
many  verses  which  are  far  superior  to  them  as  compositions  and  which  might  be  thougnt 
more  attractive  to  the  young.  .  .  .  Among  the  moral  songs  ...  is  the  Uradie  nymn, 
beginning 

Hush,  my  dear,  lie  still  and  slumber. 

Like  many  of  Watts'  hymns  there  are  lines  in  it  which  might  well  be  spared,  but,  as  a 
whole,  it  is  quite  equal  to  George  Wither's 

Sleep,  Baby,  Sleep, 
and  Mr.  Palgrave  Justly  says  of  it  that  few  child-pictures  have  been  drawn  in  words  and 
color  of  more  perfect  tenderness. 

*  Burder,  Works  of  Isaac  Watts,  London,  1810,  Vol.  VI,  pp.  72,  86. 


CREATING  JUVENILE  LITERATURE  149 

For  so  small  a  book,  the  range  of  subjects  was  wide,  and  it 
cannot  be  charged  with  lack  of  clearness  or  with  sentimen- 
tality, or  misty  or  vague  doctrine  respecting  sin  and  salvation. 
Thus,  the  natural  progress  of  the  child  from  one  sin  to  another 
is  forcibly  if  not  very  elegantly  put  in  rhyme: 

The  little  wretch  whose  lying  tongue 

Can  whisper  to  another's  wrong, 
Will  other  mischiefs  quickly  dare, 

And  soon  be  found  to  curse  and  swear. 

He  evidently  held  to  the  possibility  of  child  depravity,  and 
thus  portrays  a  quarrelsome  child  in  song: 

But  oh,  what  a  horrible  sight, 

When  children,  with  anger  and  rage, 

Like  lions,  will  quarrel  and  fight, 
While  none  can  their  anger  assuage. 

Old  Satan  is  then  very  nigh, 

Delighted  that  thus  they  have  shown 

A  murdering  spirit;  and  why? 
Because  'tis  akin  to  his  own! 

Very  plain  and  blunt  were  the  teachings  of  sin  and  salva- 
tion of  those  old  songs.  Perhaps  our  modern  children's  hymn 
writers  might  gather  profitable  hints  by  the  study  of  these  old 
collections ! 

The  conditions  remind  us  of  a  wise  writer  who  said,  "Let 
me  make  the  ballads  of  a  people  and  I  care  not  who  makes  the 
laws."  The  songs  of  the  ale-house  and  of  the  brothel  were 
too  common  on  the  streets  and  often  crept  into  Christian 
homes  through  the  children.  It  was  a  gigantic  but  necessary 
task  to  change  this.  Some  of  the  sweetest  lyric  writers  and 
some  of  the  best  musical  composers  gave  their  ripest  skill  to 
the  production  of  hymns  and  tunes  in  this  new  field.  The 
charming  melodies  of  Lowell  Mason,  and  the  rhythmic  songs 
of  Thomas  Hastings  and  other  musical  writers,  were  com- 
posed for  the  young,  and  issued  by  the  Union  as  worthy  fore- 
runners of  the  gospel  songs  that  now  fill  our  land.  A  simple 
manual  on  the  art  of  singing  by  E.  Ives  was  issued  by  the 
Union  to  teach  the  young  to  sing  by  note,  as  well  as  by  rote. 
Music  lessons  for  infant  classes  were  also  issued  in  large 
numbers.     Collections  of  psalmody  and  of  hymns  followed 


150  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

the  issue  of  an  elementary  book,  The  Union  Minstrel,  edited 
by  Thomas  Hastings  for  the  use  of  juvenile  classes.  Success- 
ive editions  and  series  of  Union  Hymns  were  issued  by  the 
hundred  thousand,  containing  songs  and  tunes  that  pleased 
the  ear  and  presented  lofty  ideals  of  life.  These  soon  came 
into  popular  favor  and  were  sung  everywhere.  So  popular 
did  these  new  juvenile  songs,  introduced  through  the  Sunday- 
school,  become  that  they  quite  swept  the  low,  rollicking, 
ribald  songs  from  the  streets,  if  not  from  all  assemblies  of 
youth. 

The  first  Union  Hymn  Book  was  repeatedly  revised  and 
issued  in  large  editions  of  20,000  or  30,000  copies— 250,000 
before  1846.  In  response  to  a  call  for  similar  hymns  suitable 
for  teachers'  meetings,  the  Union  issued  a  special  collection, 
containing  a  large  number  of  hymns  adapted  for  the  use  of 
teachers  and  teachers'  meetings.1  A  Two-cent  Hymn  Book 
was  issued,  adapted  for  "Houses  of  Refuge,"  and  other  charit- 
able institutions,  and  distributed  by  the  tens  of  thousands  of 
copies.2 

The  Society  met  with  some  serious  difficulties  in  attempt- 
ing to  introduce  juvenile  songs  widely  into  rural  Sunday- 
schools.  In  that  day  the  strolling  "singing  master"  was  a 
conspicuous  character.  Sometimes  he  was  nearly  as  con- 
spicuous for  his  lax  morals  and  his  use  of  stimulants  as  he  was 
for  his  mastery  of  music.  Probably  some  teachers  and 
Sunday-school  superintendents  may  have  found  it  difficult 
to  teach  after  the  singing,  as  the  New  England  minister  did 
at  the  close  of  a  very  badly  sung  psalm.  It  was  rendered  so 
wretchedly  that  he  read  another  to  the  choir  and  said  to  them, 
"You  must  try  again,  for  it  is  impossible  to  preach  after  such 
singing."3  But  in  the  face  of  ignorance  and  of  difficulties,  the 
better  class  of  juvenile  hymns  and  songs  won  their  way  in  city 
and  country. 

These  successive  battles  and  victories  marked  epochs  in 
Sunday-school  progress  worthy  of  permanent  record.  These 
began  soon  after  the  origin  of  the  modern  Sunday-school 
movement,  for  praise  and  song  were  a  necessary  and  efficient 
aid  in  giving  that  movement  success. 

1  American  Sunday-School  Magazine,  1S26,  p.  384. 

»  Report,  1846,  p.  20. 

J  Amcircan  Sunday-School  Magazine,  1826.  p.  235. 


CREATING  JUVENILE  LITERATURE  151 

Modern  evangelists  have  found  that  a  service  of  song  ap- 
peals to  all,  of  whatever  religious  creed  or  opinion,  and  carries 
the  gospel  message  with  irresistible  power  to  the  heart.  In 
devout  songs  there  is  rarely  a  discordant  theological  note. 
Hymns  by  devout  authors  and  composers — by  Romanists,  as 
Bernard  of  Cluny,  Faber  and  Newman;  and  by  Anglicans,  as 
Heber,  Alford,  Ken  and  Keble;  and  by  Calvinists,  as  Watts, 
Toplady  and  Bonar;  and  by  Arminians,  as  the  Wesleys — are 
made  the  messengers  of  truth;  the  hearers  never  thinking  of 
the  peculiar  creeds  of  the  authors,  but  only  of  their  devout 
spirit  and  their  consecrated  lives.  So,  in  the  earlier  coming 
together  of  persons  in  the  Sunday-school  movement,  hymns 
and  tunes  were  chosen  from  all  available  sources  that  were 
adapted  to  the  religious  development  of  the  young. 

In  this  pioneer  service  for  the  young,  the  American  Sunday- 
School  Union  had  a  large  share.  As  in  lesson  systems,  so  in 
juvenile  hymnology,  there  have  been  successive  periods,  each 
introduced  by  a  marked  epoch  or  crisis.  When  the  modern 
Sunday-school  movement  began,  there  were  few  if  any  hymns, 
aside  from  those  of  Watts  and  of  Jane  Taylor,  suited  for  use 
in  children's  gatherings.  This  was  particularly  true  of  moral 
and  religious  songs;  they  were  meager  in  quantity  and  not 
high  in  quality.  This  battle  for  betterment  continued  for  a 
generation. 

Professor  John  S.  Hart,  LL.D.,  an  eminent  educator  and 
Sunday-school  editor,  out  of  his  experience  in  Sunday-schools 
in  the  first  part  of  the  last  century,  tells  of  "the  grim  and  pon- 
derous tune  to  which  we  youngsters  were  solemnly  exhorted 
to  trail  our  voices,  while  a  hymn  of  equally  unattractive  char- 
acter dragged  its  slow  length  along.  The  singing  was  a  relig- 
ious duty,  to  which  we  were  expected  to  give  heed,  and  which 
we  tried  faithfully  to  discharge,  as  we  would  have  tried  to 
submit  cheerfully  to  an  amputation,  had  circumstances  re- 
quired it;  or  as  we  would  have  walked  to  the  school,  if  neces- 
sary, bare-footed  through  the  snow,  as  one  boy  actually  did 
rather  than  forego  his  privileges."  He  adds:  "The  music 
suited  to  persons  advanced  in  life  is  no  more  suited  to  children 
than  would  be  the  measured  and  solemn  gait  of  these  aged 
persons.  Childhood  is  jubilant,  and  quick  in  its  motions. 
...  If  the  music  is  really  to  take  hold  of  the  feelings  of 


152  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

children,  it  must  be  simple,  quick  and  lively  in  its  general 
movement."1  He  points  out  the  danger  of  an  opposite  ex- 
treme of  providing  for  children  trivial  music  or  words  that 
degenerate  into  slang,  flippant,  bordering  only  on  the  profane 
or  what  might  be  fit  for  a  picnic  or  a  circus,  but  not  for  a  re- 
ligious service.  There  were  certain  tunes  and  words — "rude, 
irreverent,  fit  only  for  clowns."  It  is  unwise,  in  trying  to 
escape  from  the  dreary  solemnities  of  a  doleful,  long-metered, 
lugubrious  hymn,  to  rush  into  the  other  extreme. 

But  in  America,  as  in  England,  Sunday-school  workers  were 
compelled,  at  first,  to  make  the  best  selection  they  could  from 
existing  hymn  books.  These  proved  so  inadequate  that  an 
insistent  demand  was  made  for  original  hymns  and  tunes 
better  fitted  to  reach  the  youthful  mind. 

At  the  early  anniversaries  of  the  Sunday-School  Union  few 
suitable  hymns  were  found.  Hymns  by  W.  B.  Tappan,  Wil- 
lis Gaylord  Clark,  and  Dr.  W.  A.  Muhlenberg,  and  other  recog- 
nized hymn  writers  were  composed  to  be  sung  at  the  annual 
meeting  of  the  Society,  and  were,  with  spirit.  The  American 
Sunday-School  Union  issued  a  selection  of  existing*  hymns  in 
1819,  following  the  testing  of  some  of  them  by  printing  them 
on  separate  sheets  or  cards  for  use  in  various  Sunday-schools. 
While  several  thousands  of  this  first  hymn  book  were  issued, 
it  was  apparent  that  the  h3mms  were  too  mature  and  too 
"stiff"  for  the  young.  They  might  be  suited  to  persons  of 
advanced  years  anticipating  death  and  stepping  into  the 
grave.  Indeed,  the  characteristics  of  some  hymns  were  so 
marked  as  to  cause  the  irreverent  to  say  that  they  were  "well 
fitted  for  those  pious  young  children  in  'memoirs'  "  (too  com- 
mon then),  wherein  "all  good  little  children  died  young." 
This  fault  was  early  recognized,  "It  has  been  found  very 
difficult  to  meet  the  various  wants  of  those  for  whose  use 
these  hymn  books  are  designed." 

The  American  Sunday-School  Union  also  secured  the  writ- 
ing of  many  new  hymns  for  youth.  It  issued  manuals  of 
hymns  and  music,  including  A  System  of  Instruction  in  Music 
for  the  young.  Thomas  Hastings  wrote  Juvenile  Psalmody, 
issued  by  the  Western  Sunday-School  Union  of  New  York — 
an  auxiliary  of  the  American  Sunday-School  Union — in  1827. 

1  John  S.  Hart,  Thoughts  on  Sabbath  Schools,  p.  93. 


CREATING  JUVENILE  LITERATURE  153 

This  was  designed  to  furnish  a  concise  system  of  learning  to 
sing  sacred  music,  "so  simplified  in  its  character  as  to  be 
easily  reduced  to  practice  on  the  monitorial  plan"  of  teach- 
ing. It  was  followed  by  a  larger  work,  entitled  Manual  of  In- 
struction in  American  Sunday-School  Psalmody,  by  E.  Ives,  Jr., 
whose  work  embraced  principles  of  musical  education  grow- 
ing out  of  actual  experience  "in  the  instruction  of  about  five 
thousand  pupils."  The  lessons  were  so  constructed  "that 
children  who  have  learned  to  sing  by  rote  may,  by  an  ordinary 
singer,  be  taught  in  one  hour  to  sing  a  hymn  scientifically." 

That  the  young  should  understand  the  meaning  of  the 
hymn  was  early  recognized  by  Sunday-school  leaders.  To 
carry  out  this  rule,  however,  required  hymns  that  the  child 
could  understand.  Few  such  hymns  were  in  existence,  as 
already  noted.  To  supply  this  lack  the  Union  further  encour- 
aged the  production  of  new  hymns  as  well  as  the  most  care- 
ful gleaning  from  all  the  old  ones — whether  used  in  the  church 
or  elsewhere.  These  were  published  in  successive  "collections 
of  hymns" — well  nigh  a  dozen  of  them — of  different  types  and 
sizes,  and  as  fast  as  they  were  found  unsatisfactory,  the  de- 
fective and  weak  ones  were  weeded  out. 

In  this  early  period,  stages  or  steps  in  the  development  of  the 
child  mind  were  recognized.  Thus,  a  selection  of  hymns  for 
infant  classes  was  issued;  another  for  the  main  school  of  the 
adolescent  age;  a  third  for  senior  and  Bible  classes;  a  fourth 
for  teachers'  meetings,  and  a  fifth  containing  special  hymns 
and  music  on  temperance,  and  for  Christmas,  anniversaries, 
and  other  special  occasions.  Thus  the  educational  principles 
upon  which  the  Society  planned  its  system  of  Bible  study 
were  applied  to  its  hymn  books.  In  all  this  service,  Sunday- 
school  educators  were  pioneers,  since  songs  for  the  young, 
whether  social,  educational,  or  religious,  did  not  exist  as  a 
class.  Before  this  period,  the  children  were  compelled  to 
join  as  best  they  could  in  church  hymns  and  in  the  social 
songs  written  and  intended  for  grown  people. 

Another  marked  epoch  was  when  the  Society  provided 
evangelistic  hymns  and  music  suited  for  revivals  and  prayer- 
meetings.  Nettleton's  Village  Hymns  failed  to  meet  the 
need,  outside  of  New  England.  Among  the  earliest  popular 
compilations  of  this  kind  was  one  made  by  a  committee  of  the 


154  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

Young  Men's  Christian  Association  and  published  by  the 
American  Sunday-School  Union  previous  to  the  great  revival 
of  1857  and  1858.  Union  Prayer  Meeting  Hymns  was  pub- 
lished in  a  variety  of  editions  with  some  new  tunes,  but  for 
the  most  part  those  of  a  familiar  and  of  a  standard  but  popular 
type. 

As  the  principles  of  education  were  better  understood  and 
the  development  of  the  child  mind  more  clearly  defined,  there 
came  a  call  for  hymns  and  especially  for  music  expressive  of 
gladness,  lively  feeling  and  joy,  characteristic  of  youthful 
minds.  It  was  clearly  seen  that  neither  the  old  music,  nor 
the  words,  quite  suited  the  lively  treble  of  the  voice  of  j^outh. 
The  words  should  not  be  unintelligible  on  the  one  hand,  nor 
meaningless  doggerel  on  the  other.  The  music  should  not 
be  doleful  or  "dragging,"  nor  should  it  be  frivolous,  but 
expressive  of  the  cheerful  and  happy  spirit  of  childhood. 
As  these  ideas  emerged  there  was  a  call  for  an  advance  along 
these  lines,  marking  another  period  in  the  character  of  Sunday- 
school  hymnology.  It  first  appeared  in  connection  with 
Sunday-School  Anniversaries — a  series  of  half  a  do^en  chiefly 
original  hymns  and  tunes  written  by  foremost  authors  and 
composers  for  these  occasions.  They  speedily  became  so 
popular  that  hymns  and  tunes  of  a  similar  type  were  called 
for  in  all  the  devotional  services  of  Sabbath-schools.  Authors, 
composers,  and  publishers  combined  to  flood  America  with 
compositions,  taking  advantage  of  this  popular  idea,  which 
amounted  almost  to  a  craze. 

To  stem  this  craze  for  quantity — something  ever  new,  even 
if  doggerel  and  light  music — and  to  displace  it  with  some- 
thing that  would  be  more  reverent  and  instructive,  the  Ameri- 
can Sunday-School  Union  invited  the  Rev.  Dr.  Charles  S. 
Robinson,  a  recognized  authority  in  hymnology,  and  Theo- 
dore E.  Perkins,  a  musical  composer  of  note,  to  prepare  a  book 
of  a  more  devout  spirit  of  praise  and  worship  for  Sunday-school 
use,  and,  at  the  same  time,  to  retain  "as  many  of  the  familiar 
and  popular  pieces  of  the  best  authors  as  was  consistent,  with 
a  fair  number  of  fresh  tunes  and  hymns  of  real  worth,"  blend- 
ing the  old  and  the  new  together.  Dr.  Robinson  had  already 
attained  fame  as  a  compiler  of  Songs  for  the  Sanctuary.  His 
Calvary  Songs  included  many  of  the  evangelistic  pieces  made 


CREATING  JUVENILE  LITERATURE  155 

widely  popular  by  the  revival  workers,  Ira  D.  Sankey,  D.  L. 
Moody,  P.  P.  Bliss,  and  others. 

The  Society  had  already  prepared  the  way  and  created  a 
taste  for  a  book  of  this  class  by  its  previous  American  Sunday- 
School  Hymn  Book,  and  the  Sunday-School  Hosanna,  which 
were  among  the  pioneers  in  this  second  period  or  epoch  in 
juvenile  hymnology. 

These  two  movements,  namely,  modern  evangelistic  meet- 
ings and  the  Sunday-school,  are  credited  with  contributing 
largely  to  the  volume,  if  not  to  the  quality,  of  American  hymns. 
The  popular  demand  was  so  great  that  doubtless  a  large  num- 
ber were  produced  under  this  pressure  which  fairly  came  under 
the  criticism  since  made,  that  "the  majority  of  these  hymns 
are  such  that  their  continued  use  is  not  to  be  desired,  while 
the  quality  of  the  music  to  which  they  are  sung  is  even  poorer 
than  that  of  the  hymns."1  The  Union  recognized  this  in- 
crease in  quantity  and  decrease  in  quality,  and  endeavored 
to  turn  the  movement  so  as  at  least  to  improve  the  quality. 

Of  some  earlier  and  famous  hymn  writers,  as  Watts,  Addi- 
son, Doddridge,  and  Steele,  it  has  been  said  they  did  not 
create  high-class  lyrics.  Literary  critics  count  their  produc- 
tions as  only  fair  examples  of  the  influence  of  the  poetical 
school  of  Pope.  But  they  did  express  the  new  and  growing 
spirituality  of  evangelical  religion.  Cowper,  Newton,  Top- 
lady,  and  Charles  Wesley  opened  a  new  era  of  deeper  spirit- 
uality in  Christian  experience,  and  of  improved  lyric  merit. 
They  wrote  lines  suited  for  singing,  as  all  lyrics  are  not. 
These  lines  expressed  the  emotions  of  the  Christian  mind,  and 
thus  became  endeared  to  the  Christian  heart.  For  a  lyric  is 
the  creation  of  a  poetic  imagination;  a  Christian  hymn  is  that 
also,  plus  the  inspiration  from  a  devout  communion  with 
God. 

It  could  not  be  expected  that  the  character  of  evangelistic 
and  Sunday-school  hymns  should  rise  above  that  of  general 
church  hymnology.  It  ought,  however,  to  attain  at  times  at 
least  a  high  order  of  merit,  and  it  surely  did.  Note  the 
modern  hymns  of  Bonar,  Ray  Palmer,  Fanny  Crosby,  C. 
Wordsworth,  P.  P.  Bliss,  Matheson,  and  many  others.  It  was 
the  aim  of  the  American  Sunday-School  Union  to  bring  Sunday- 

1  George  W.  Gilmore,  in  Schaff-Herzog  Encyclopedia. 


156  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

school  songs  and  music  up  to  this  high  standard.  The  Union 
spared  neither  labor  nor  expense  to  accomplish  its  aim.  It 
was  not  ambitious  to  produce  bulky  volumes;  it  sought  rather 
to  sift  out  the  standard  and  the  best  of  the  popular  hymns 
and  tunes  which  had  worthily  won  a  place  in  the  hearts  of  all 
evangelical  Christians.  On  this  plan  it  issued  Union  Hymns, 
The  People's  Hymn  Book,  Calvary  Songs,  Hymnal  for  Primary 
Classes,  Favorite  Hymns,  and  similar  collections,  all  of  a  moder- 
ate size.  In  preparing  the  Hymnal  for  Primary  Classes,  the 
guiding  purpose  was  "to  have  every  hymn  and  exercise  teach 
the  love  of  Jesus,  some  scriptural  truth,  and  some  important 
moral  principle  which,  once  fixed  in  the  minds  of  children, 
might  ever  influence  their  lives/'  The  material  of  these 
works  was  gleaned  from  every  available  source;  some  of  it 
was  original,  written  to  suit  children's  voices,  "to  be  sung  in 
unison."  The  collections  were  published  at  a  price  which 
would  place  them  within  the  reach  of  all. 

In  making  these  improvements  the  Union  did  not  depend 
upon  a  single  author  or  composer.  Thus  in  one  of  the  later  of 
its  works,  Favorite  Hymns,  upward  of  200  of  its  missionary  and 
evangelistic  workers  in  all  parts  of  America  were  asked  to  fur- 
nish a  carefully  sifted  list  of  200  hymns  and  tunes  most  widely 
used  and  most  highly  valued  in  their  respective  fields.  These 
lists  were  collated,  and  from  them  were  again  sifted  upward  of 
150  hymns  and  tunes  which  appeared  oftenest  in  these  lists. 
This  collection  was  found  to  contain  a  large  proportion  of 
the  spiritual  hymns  which  were  the  heritage  of  Christendom, 
and  comprised  the  best  compositions  of  the  widest  and  most 
famous  lyrics  and  music  writers,  ancient  and  modern.  Thus 
the  American  Sunday-School  Union  has  diligently  sought  to 
contribute  its  share  of  service  in  this  field  of  juvenile  hym- 
nology,  improving  the  quality  and  also  stimulating  young 
Christians  to  higher  ideals  in  spiritual  living. 

There  is  still  room  for  improvement  in  the  quality  of  hymns 
for  praise  and  worship,  in  the  Sunday-school.  Many  so- 
called  hymns  are  not  suitable  to  be  so  sung;  they  are  not 
even  passable  lyrics,  but  only  rhymes  or  doggerel.  The 
songs  of  Watts  and  of  his  school  have  had  a  dominant  in- 
fluence over  hymn  writers  for  nearly  two  centuries.  He  hit 
the  popular  level  of  his  age,  but  as  an  educator  in  taste  his 


CREATING  JUVENILE  LITERATURE  157 

verses  "were  not  the  happiest."1  Verses  for  use  in  worship 
are  abundant  as  the  leaves  of  the  forest,  true  hymns  are 
rare  as  flawless  diamonds.  For  a  hymn  is  the  lyrical  ex- 
pression of  prayer,  praise  and  holy  meditation  not  only,  but 
in  rhythm  and  harmony  suitable  to  be  sung.  It  is  not  simply 
the  poetry  of  emotion,  but  of  devotion — the  unrolling  of 
great  waves  of  feeling,  of  irresistible  power  and  of  unfath- 
omed  depths.  The  ideal  juvenile  hymnology  will  express 
all  varieties  of  mental  and  spiritual  growth  in  harmonies 
appealing  to  the  mystic  heights  and  depths  of  the  spirit 
filled  with  a  childlike  faith  in  a  Heavenly  Father.  We  wait 
with  patience  for  the  ideal  Sunday-school  hymn  book.  One 
of  the  glories  of  an  ideal  work  of  this  class  will  be  that  it  can 
voice  the  deepest  truths  of  our  holy  religion  in  the  simplest 
language  and  free  from  doctrinal  controversy.  It  will  reveal 
the  harmony  of  all  fundamental  religious  truth.  It  is  an 
interesting  confirmation  of  this  millennium  of  Christian  unity 
that  the  old  hymns  endeared  to  devout  souls  are  the  language 
of  the  universal  human  heart,  though  the  authors  were  often 
champions  of  theological  disputes.  Thus,  hymns  by  Arians 
churchmen,  Catholics  (Roman  and  Greek),  Calvinists,  Meth- 
odists, Lutherans,  Moravians  and  many  Chinese  creeds  are 
now  found  in  the  hymnals  of  seven  leading  evangelical  de- 
nominations. 

Periodicals,  Early  Period. — The  Sunday-school  movement 
early  met  with  indifference  and  opposition.  The  indifference 
was  partly  due  to  ignorance  or  lack  of  proper  information 
concerning  the  purpose  and  methods  of  the  institution. 
The  managers  of  the  Union  declared  that  some  new  effort 
was  required  to  give  an  impetus  and  wise  direction  to  Sunday- 
schools  if  they  were  to  achieve  success  or  even  to  make  any 
real  progress.  This  information  was  needed  along  several 
different  lines. 

(1)  Specific  instructions  were  required  on  organization  and 
conduct  of  Sunday-schools  and  also  upon  the  organization  of 
groups  of  schools  in  unions,  co-operating  with  one  another  in 
a  common  but  limited  field. 

(2)  A  common  medium  of  information  was  necessary  be- 
tween the   various  schools  and   unions  scattered   over   the 

1  F.  M.  Bird,  Hymnology. 


158  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

country  in  order  that  whatever  new  methods  were  tried  and 
found  successful  in  any  place  might  be  conveyed  to  another. 
Thus  the  schools  would  be  stimulated  to  improve  not  by 
speculative  theories,  but  by  actual  methods,  which  had  been 
put  into  practice  and  somewhere,  at  least,  had  stood  the  test 
of  use. 

(3)  Information  must  further  be  given  constantly  upon 
the  various  modes  of  extending  Sunday-schools  into  new 
fields  by  agents,  missionaries,  auxiliaries,  churches,  and  volun- 
tary workers,  creating  an  interest  and  stimulating  each  of 
these  into  activity  in  every  part  of  the  land. 

American  Sunday-School  Magazine. — To  accomplish  these 
ends,  it  was  proposed  to  issue  a  general  periodical.  In  1823, 
The  American  Sunday-School  Magazine  was  projected,  but 
the  issue  of  it  was  delayed  until  a  competent  editor  could  be 
found.  A  committee  of  the  Union  searched  for  several  months 
and  reported  that  the  difficulty,  not  to  say  impracticability,  of 
finding  a  person  meeting  the  views  of  the  Society  in  all  points 
was  great,  yet  they  had  found  a  young  journalist  in  New 
York  (Frederick  W.  Porter),  who  was  distinguishe'd  for  zeal 
in  Sabbath-schools,  a  man  of  piety  and  evangelical  princi- 
ples, willing,  at  the  end  of  his  engagement  in  New  York,  to 
come  to  Philadelphia.  Mr.  Porter  conducted  the  magazine 
monthly  from  July  1,  1824,  for  a  few  years,  until  Frederick  A. 
Packard  gave  up  a  large  and  promising  legal  practice  to  de- 
vote his  life  to  the  preparation  of  religious  literature  for  the 
young,  at  the  call  of  the  American  Sunday-School  Union. 
The  increasing  demands  for  the  Union's  literature  within 
five  years  required  Mr.  Porter  to  give  all  his  time  to  the 
management  of  its  circulation  and  to  the  direction  of  its 
missionary  work. 

The  object  of  the  magazine  was,  broadly  stated,  to  pro- 
mote the  three  lines  of  work  already  indicated.  It  proposed 
to  give  a  summary  record  of  Sabbath-schools  "in  all  parts  of 
the  world,"  to  present  the  best  methods  of  conducting  them, 
to  discuss  questions  relating  to  their  management,  to  notice 
the  literature,  to  treat  of  education,  to  give  hints  on  training 
children  in  the  fear  of  the  Lord  in  the  family  circle,  and  to 
illustrate  all  these  subjects  by  authentic  facts,  tending  to 
exhibit  the  power  of  divine  truth  in  a  form  to  encourage 


CREATING  JUVENILE  LITERATURE  159 

parents  and  Sunday-school  teachers,  and  to  stimulate  all  to 
take  part  in  the  religious  education  of  the  rising  generation. 

It  will  be  seen  that  their  purpose  was  to  cover  the  whole 
field  of  education  as  related  to  religion.  It  was  not  limited 
to  teachers  or  workers,  but  was  for  all  friends  of  the  cause  of 
religion,  whether  in  the  church,  society,  or  the  family. 

Several  similar  periodicals  were  issued  about  the  same 
time  in  Boston,  Hartford,  New  Haven,  New  York,  Utica, 
Princeton,  and  other  places,  but  only  for  local  circulation. 
The  American  Sunday-School  Magazine  had  a  wider  outlook, 
taking  on  a  national  character  and  treating  the  progress  of  the 
movement  in  a  more  general  way,  suited  to  readers  in  differ- 
ent parts  of  the  country.  It  aimed  to  do  for  America  what 
The  Sunday-School  Repository  or  Teachers7  Magazine  of  Eng- 
land attempted  to  do  for  Great  Britain.  It  was  issued 
monthly  from  July,  1824,  each  page  being  eight  and  one-half 
by  five  and  three-quarter  inches  (the  type  page  six  and  three- 
quarter  by  three  and  three-quarter  inches),  thirty-two  pages 
in  each  number,  with  illustrations,  maps,  plans  of  rooms,  etc., 
giving  384  large  pages  of  reading  matter  yearly  for  $1.50. 

Simultaneously  with  the  regular  monthly  issues  of  the 
magazine,  the  Union  sent  out  a  great  variety  of  publications 
at  irregular  intervals,  giving  information  along  all  three  of 
the  lines  of  work  above  indicated.  Thus  letters,  circulars, 
appeals,  instructions,  regulations  and  rules  were  poured 
forth  from  its  presses  with  almost  bewildering  variety  and 
quantity,  such  as  Directions  for  Forming  and  Conducting 
Sunday-Schools  (12  pages);  Hints  to  Aid  in  the  Organization 
and  Support  of  Sabbath-Schools  in  the  Country;  Plans  and 
Motives  for  the  Extension  of  Sabbath-Schools;  An  Address  to 
the  Citizens  of  Philadelphia;  another  To  the  Friends  of  Sunday- 
Schools  in  the  United  States;  System  of  Internal  Regulation  for 
Sunday-Schools;  Plan  of  Proceeding  in  the  Formation  of 
Auxiliary  Sunday-School  Unions,  and  a  constitution  and 
by-laws  for  the  same;  Hints  on  the  Establishment  of  Sunday- 
School  Depositories;  Yearly  Course  of  Select  Scripture  Lessons 
for  Sunday-Schools;  Annual  Reports  from  Auxiliary  Societies , 
and  Suggestions  in  Vindication  of  Sunday-Schools.  Publica- 
tions on  the  design,  importance,  and  various  other  phases 
of  the  Sunday-school  movement  were  repeatedly  and  fre- 


1G0  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

quently  issued  in  circular  or  pamphlet  form  and  were  gratu- 
itously distributed  by  the  tens  of  thousands  over  the  country. 

These  numerous  documents,  along  with  the  periodical 
magazine — which  was  accompanied  by  an  illustrated  smaller 
periodical  for  children,  entitled  The  Youth's  Friend,  and  a 
third  one,  The  Infant  Magazine,  for  beginners— aroused 
public  interest  in  the  cause  of  Bible  instruction  so  that  even 
more  full  and  systematic  information  was  urgently  demanded. 
The  workers  wanted  more  detailed  news  and  information  in 
regard  to  new  plans  and  methods  of  instruction,  and  desired 
reports  of  the  character  of  the  many  experiments  suggested 
and  introduced  by  those  who  were  widely  scattered  through 
the  country  and  were  thinking  of  novel  expedients  charac- 
teristic of  every  new  movement.  So  there  was  a  call  for  a 
periodical  more  frequently  issued  and  more  of  the  character 
of  a  newspaper. 

Weekly  Sunday-School  Journal. — This  agitation  stimulated 
the  Union  to  project  the  issue  of  a  large  folio  periodical  each 
week,  and  a  prospectus  and  specimen  number  of  The  Sunday- 
School  Journal  and  Advocate  of  Christian  Education  was  issued 
November  24,  1830.  The  projectors  of  this  mammoth 
journal  (for  that  period)  announced  that  it  would  be  issued 
each  week,  beginning  January  5,  1831.  They  declared  that 
the  subject  of  religious  education  "had  become  a  distinct  and 
interesting  department  of  general  intelligence  and  inquiry,' ' 
making  it  indispensable  to  have  this  information  presented  in 
a  popular  form;  that  "a  weekly  paper  was  found  to  be  the 
most  efficient  and  least  expensive  mode  of  diffusing  this  in- 
formation." It  allowed  scope  "for  general  and  familiar  dis- 
cussions and  illustrations  of  all  subjects  connected  with  the 
cause,"  and  gave  an  opportunity  "for  greater  variety  and 
quantity  of  matter  than  could  be  furnished  in  any  other  form 
at  the  same  price." 

Moreover,  the  object  of  this  benevolent  institution,  the 
Sunday-school,  was  so  important  that  it  could  not  be  assigned 
any  secondary  place.  This  point  was  forcibly  stated:  "If  to 
instruct  the  ignorant,  awaken  the  careless,  and  guide  the  in- 
quiring, is  the  legitimate  office  of  the  Sunday-school  teacher; 
if  to  enlighten  the  mind,  sustain  the  spirit,  elevate  the  hopes, 
alleviate  the  woes,  and  convert  to  God  the  soul  of  man,  are 


CREATING  JUVENILE  LITERATURE  161 

the  legitimate  results  of  Sunday-school  instruction, "  it  could 
not  take  a  secondary  place. 

This  new  weekly  journal  was  a  newspaper-folio  in  form,  of 
four  pages,  each  page  fifteen  by  twenty-one  inches,  five  col- 
umns to  the  page,  in  close,  but  clear  type.  It  presented  news 
in  regard  to  the  progress  of  Sunday-schools  from  every  state, 
with  an  occasional  peep  at  their  progress  throughout  the 
world.  Every  phase  of  the  problem  of  education,  as  related 
to  religion,  was  discussed.  Special  attention  was  given  to 
prominent  theories  of  leading  educators  which  were  then 
receiving  the  attention  of  the  public  and  of  the  learned 
throughout  the  country.  Full  accounts  of  experimental 
plans  and  methods  pursued  in  different  schools  in  different 
parts  of  the  country  were  given.  Nor  did  the  editors  forget 
whatever  would  stimulate  workers  to  improved  plans  and  to 
an  earnest  inculcation  and  application  of  biblical  truth  in  the 
formation  of  character.  Nearly  every  number  contained  an 
engraving  quite  worthy  of  the  artistic  skill  of  those  days, 
however  crude  it  may  seem  to  us  now. 

This  journal  also  contained  explanations  and  applications 
upon  the  Select  Uniform  Limited  Lessons,  which  were  then 
in  use.  These  were  entirely  different  from  the  " Helps"  in  the 
Union  Questions  which  were  also  upon  the  same  select  Bible 
texts.  The  Moravian  plan  of  "a  verse-a-day"  committed  to 
memory  was  also  noticed,  and  for  some  time  the  seven  verses 
for  each  week  appeared  in  full  in  one  of  its  columns.  Alto- 
gether the  journal  was  not  only  equal  to,  but  in  advance  of  the 
average  weekly  newspaper  of  that  day  in  regard  to  its  in- 
formation and  Sunday-school  news,  as  well  as  in  respect  to 
the  available  material  relating  to  education,  the  lessons,  and 
the  various  principles  or  methods  applicable  to  Bible  instruc- 
tion. It  published  full  reports  of  the  first  and  second  National 
Sunday-School  Conventions  of  1832  and  1833,  held,  respect- 
ively, in  New  York  and  in  Philadelphia. 

This  weekly  Sunday-school  teachers'  periodical  was  among 
the  earliest  of  its  class,  if  not  the  first  weekly  teachers'  paper 
of  its  kind,  issued  in  America  or  in  the  world.  It  attempted 
to  throw  light  upon  the  systems  of  education  which  were  then 
in  an  unsettled,  formative  condition. 

The  Journal  brought  into  comparison  the  views  of  fore- 


162  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

most  educators  of  that  period,  which  proved  an  excellent 
way  of  showing  their  diverse  and  even  contradictory  char- 
acter. The  editors  and  writers  attempted  to  bring  some 
clear  order  out  of  this  confused  discussion.  They  appealed 
to  the  public  to  support  the  Journal  and  the  American  Sunday- 
School  Union.  "If  the  friends  of  liberty  and  religion  will 
stand  by  it,  and  sustain  it  with  generous  hearts  and  open 
hands,  its  field  of  usefulness  and  benevolent  exertions  will 
extend  farther  and  farther  until  it  shall  embrace  all  the  in- 
habited portions  of  the  globe;  and  its  duration  and  means 
will  be  measured  only  by  the  existence  and  wants  of  a  sinful, 
dying  world. "  Surely  a  wide  outlook  and  a  far  vision  were 
theirs! 

The  reports  of  state  and  county  conventions  were  given 
with  such  frequency  and  fulness  as  to  create  a  desire  for  a 
national  convention.  This  was  proposed  by  a  resolution  of 
the  managers  of  the  American  Sunday-School  Union  and  first 
published  in  the  Journal  in  1832.  (This  will  be  noticed  more 
fully  under  Conventions.) 

The  Sunday-School  Journal  continued  to  be  issued  once  a 
week  from  1831  to  1835,  at  two  dollars  per  year.  Then,  for 
financial  reasons,  it  was  issued  only  every  other  week,  and  the 
price  reduced  to  one  dollar  per  year.  In  1843  the  size  of  the 
page  was  reduced  and  it  was  offered  to  schools  at  the  ex- 
tremely low  price  of  twenty-five  cents  per  year.  It  was  fur- 
nished at  this  popular  price  until  1859,  when  it  was  succeeded 
by  The  Sunday-School  Times,  and  later  by  The  Sunday-School 
World. 

Juvenile  Illustrated  Periodicals. — This  class  of  religious 
literature  was  a  creation  of  the  first  quarter  or  half  of  the 
nineteenth  century.  The  early  juvenile  illustrated  periodicals 
were  tiny  affairs.  Great  Britain,  in  the  early  years  of  the 
Sunday-school  movement,  industriously  put  forth  periodical 
literature  in  greater  abundance  than  books.  Several  of  these 
small  papers  for  children  were  published  by  private  enter- 
prise. One  of  the  pioneers  in  this  field  was  The  Youth's  Maga- 
zine, edited  by  W.  B.  Gurney  of  London.  It  was  a  "popular 
and  high-class  monthly,"  primarily  not  for  Sunday  scholars 
but  for  young  people  in  general.  A  small  periodical  of  this 
class,  called  The  Sunday-School  Child's  Repository,  was  issued 


AUTHORS 


Archibald  Alexander.  D.  D  ,  LL.  D. 


Henry  A.  Boardman,  D.  D. 


James  W.  Alexander,  D.  D. 


Philip  Schaff,  D.  D.f  LL.  D. 


Edwin  Cone  Bissell    D.  D. 


CREATING  JUVENILE  LITERATURE  163 

for  a  brief  period  from  1815  at  Southwark,  a  part  of  London, 
and  Mr.  Gover  soon  after  started  a  similar  magazine  which 
also  was  discontinued  when  the  Religious  Tract  Society  began 
The  Child1  s  Companion  in  1824.  According  to  Mr.  William 
H.  Groser,  secretary  of  the  London  Sunday-School  Union, 
about  a  dozen  monthlies  for  young  people  were  issued  in 
1825,  varying  in  price  from  one  penny  to  four  pence  each. 
The  London  Sunday-School  Union  Report  for  May,  1824, 
gives  a  list  of  fifteen  "periodicals  for  Sunday  scholars,"  but 
two  or  three  of  them  do  not  seem  to  belong  exclusively  to 
that  class,  and  two  or  three  others  belong,  properly,  to  the 
educational  rather  than  to  the  religious  field.  Most  of  them 
shared  the  fate  of  educational  and  literary  magazines  and 
periodicals  begun  in  the  latter  part  of  the  eighteenth  century 
— they  were  short  lived.  This  was  specially  true  of  literary 
magazines  and  periodicals  in  America.  For  out  of  a  fist  of 
about  275,  given  in  The  American  Encyclopedia,  including 
American,  English,  French,  German,  and  some  other  Euro- 
pean languages  in  the  various  branches  of  learning — and  that 
lived  up  to  1860 — scarcely  eighteen  were  begun  before  1820. 
Many  of  these,  in  fact,  were  annals  or  journals  of  scientific  or 
other  societies  and  not  properly  magazines,  reviews,  or 
literary  journals.  The  short  lives  of  these  journals  and 
their  ephemeral  character  might  be  expected  in  the  develop- 
ment of  a  new  class  of  periodicals  in  any  country.  There 
was,  perhaps,  less  mortality  among  the  juvenile  illustrated 
periodicals  in  America  than  among  other  kinds  of  periodical 
literature,  whether  in  America  or  abroad. 

When  the  Sunday-school  was  founded  the  call  began  to  be 
insistent  for  periodical  reading  matter  of  a  moral  and  relig- 
ious type,  suited  to  the  young.  One  of  this  class  had  been 
started  in  New  Haven,  called  The  Teachers'  Offering,  a  tiny 
affair,  which  was  bought  by  the  Sunday-School  Union  in 
1823  and  continued  under  the  title  of  The  Youth's  Friend  and 
Scholars1  Magazine.  Its  circulation  quickly  jumped  from 
fifty  copies  at  the  first  issue  to  3,000,  and  then  to  10,000, 
and  soon  to  13,000  for  each  issue.  Its  motto  or  keyword 
was  "Buy  the  Truth  and  Sell  It  Not."  It  was  issued  monthly 
and  covered  sixteen  small  book  pages,  with  one  engraving 
each   month.     In   reviewing  it,   a   New   York   paper  urged 


164  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

every  parent  to  watch  with  what  joy  the  children  would  hail 
its  arrival.  The  reviewer  suggested  that  the  periodical 
should  come  in  the  child's  "own  name,"  and  be  his  own  paper, 
and  adds:  "The  matter  contained  in  this  work  is  of  a  purely 
moral  or  religious  character,  and  presented  to  the  young 
reader  in  a  style  suited  to  his  capacity.  The  engravings  will 
be  highly  acceptable,  and,  what  is  still  more  important,  almost 
every  young  person  can  find  means  to  defray  the  expense  of 
taking  it."  It  was  continued  for  over  twenty  years,  when 
it  was  superseded  by  the  larger  and  far  more  pretentious 
quarto  or  folio,  The  Youth's  Penny  Gazette. 

The  Gazette  began  in  1842  and  was  issued  every  other  week 
at  the  marvelously  low  price  of  twelve  and  a  half  cents  per 
annum  when  forty  copies  or  over  were  taken,  and  marked  a 
new  era  in  juvenile  illustrated  periodicals  for  Sunday-schools. 
It  claimed  to  contain  intelligence  "of  the  most  various  and 
interesting  character,"  and  facts  and  suggestions  respecting 
Sunday-schools,  missions,  the  temperance  reformation,  j/'and 
such  expositions  of  prevailing  errors  and  delusions  as  shall 
aid  the  teacher  and  interest  the  pupil  in  their  common  duties." 
It  had  several  engravings  in  each  number,  one  sometimes 
taking  a  whole  page.  It  speedily  attained  a  large  circula- 
tion which  it  continued  to  hold  for  upward  of  fifteen  years, 
when  it  was  followed  in  1859  by  The  Sunday-School  Banner 
and  The  Sunday-School  Gazette.  They,  in  turn,  were  fol- 
lowed by  The  Child's  World  and  other  papers  described 
later.  The  Penny  Gazette  claimed  to  be  the  pioneer  in  this 
class  of  folio,  illustrated  papers  for  Sunday-schools  in 
America. 

Infants'  Magazine. — The  Union  not  only  made  provision 
for  the  wants  of  the  teachers  and  of  youth,  but  it  also  took 
note  of  the  wants  of  the  little  ones  and  aimed  to  furnish  suit- 
able reading  for  them  in  The  Infants'  Magazine,  a  small  paper 
especially  prepared  to  meet  the  tastes  and  capacities  of  the 
"wee  ones"  in  the  Sunday-school  and  in  the  home.  It  had 
engravings  appealing  to  the  eye,  as  well  as  interesting  matter 
to  be  read  to  those  who  were  yet  unable  to  read  for  them- 
selves. This  little  periodical  was  issued  monthly  by  the 
American  Sunday-School  Union  from  1829  to  1834,  and  was 
a  pioneer  of  that  class  of  religious  papers  now  so  abundant, 


CREATING  JUVENILE  LITERATURE  165 

aiming  to  interest  the  youngest  children,  beginning  with  the 
Cradle  Roll. 

Periodicals,  Middle  Period. — The  great  revival  of  1857-59 
gave  a  new  impetus  to  the  development  of  the  Sunday-school. 
It  aroused  fresh  enthusiasm  in  the  systematic  study  of  the 
Scriptures  through  infant,  juvenile,  adult,  and  Bible  classes 
and  teachers'  meetings.  This  increased  attention  to  Bible 
study  called  for  better  communication  among  its  workers, 
such  as  might  be  afforded  by  a  weekly  teachers'  journal. 
Such  a  periodical  had  been  issued  for  a  few  years  following 
1830,  as  heretofore  noticed,  but  it  had  been  discontinued  from 
lack  of  adequate  financial  support.  Such  a  journal,  broad  in 
its  outlook,  not  only  helpful  to  teachers  but  encouraging  the 
extension  of  Sunday-schools  and  discussing,  in  an  evangelical 
spirit,  means  for  giving  greater  life  and  efficiency  to  Sunday- 
school  instruction  through  reports  of  proceedings  of  Sunday- 
school  conventions  and  of  the  success  of  various  forms  of 
Sunday-school  effort,  reviews  of  religious  literature  of  inter- 
est to  workers — not  overlooking  successful  methods  of  family 
instruction;  in  short,  a  journal  free  from  denominational  or 
sectarian  bias,  it  was  believed  would  be  welcomed  and  well 
sustained. 

The  Sunday-School  Times. — These  considerations  led  the 
American  Sunday-School  Union  to  start  The  Sunday-School 
Times  in  January,  1859,  securing  John  S.  Hart,  LL.D.,  an 
eminent  educator,  as  editor,  and  I.  Newton  Baker  as  his 
assistant.  It  was  considered  advantageous  to  have  a  special 
editor  for  a  teachers'  journal  of  this  scope  and  for  the  prepara- 
tion of  periodicals  for  the  young  which  the  Society  continued 
to  issue. 

The  Sunday-School  Times  was  issued  in  newspaper  form, 
each  page  about  fifteen  inches  by  twenty  inches — each  num- 
ber a  folio  of  four  pages,  at  one  dollar  per  year,  single 
copy,  or  100  copies  for  seventy  dollars,  to  one  address.  It 
was  ably  edited,  and  warmly  welcomed  by  a  large  number  of 
Christian  workers  throughout  the  county.  The  Society, 
however,  discovered  what  many  private  publishers  experienced 
before  and  since  that  date;  that  the  founding  of  a  new  weekly 
religious  journal  was  an  expensive  experiment.  The  embar- 
rassed condition  of  the  Society's  finances,  together  with  the 


166  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

distracted  condition  of  the  country,  led  the  managers  of  the 
Union  after  two  years  (in  1861)  to  transfer  this  publication 
to  private  parties  (John  S.  Hart  and  others).  By  this  trans- 
fer, it  was  believed  that  the  paper  might  retain  most  of  its 
old  friends  and  gain  more  new  ones  in  denominational  schools, 
sufficient  to  give  it  adequate  support. 

It  gradually  won  its  way  in  influence  under  Dr.  Hart,  suc- 
ceeded by  Mr.  Baker,  and  was  later  ably  sustained  by  John 
Wanamaker  as  publisher,  until  it  was  again  transferred  in  1875 
to  H.  Clay  Trumbull  and  the  Sunday-School  Times  Company, 
ranking  among  the  foremost  Sunday-school  journals  in  the 
world. 

In  place  of  The  Sunday-School  Times  thus  transferred  to 
private  parties,  the  Union  planned  and  issued  another  teach- 
ers' paper  similar  to  The  Sunday-School  Journal,  and  the 
magazines  which  were  issued  by  the  Union  from  1824  to  1859. 
Teachers  and  workers  in  rural  and  Union  schools  for  which 
the  Society  cared,  required  and  would  sustain  a  journal 
adapted  to  their  need  if  it  could  be  furnished  at  a  price  within 
their  means.  Such  a  periodical  the  Union  issued  in  March, 
1861.  As  the  title  Sunday-School  Journal  first  used  by  the 
Union  had  been  appropriated  by  a  denomination,  the  Society 
named  this  teachers'  periodical  The  Sunday-School  World. 
In  taking  this  title  it  was  intended  to  include  whatever  would 
be  of  interest  to  all  workers  in  the  Sunday-school  and  in  the 
family  interested  in  religion  and  the  study  of  the  Bible.  It 
was  issued  monthly  at  fifty  cents  for  a  single  subscription  and 
forty  cents  in  clubs.  The  size  and  shape  were  adopted  with 
reference  to  binding  at  the  end  of  the  year,  the  page  being 
eight  by  ten  inches,  sixteen  pages  or  more  in  each  number. 
The  editing  of  the  periodicals  was  again  placed  under  the 
charge  of  Dr.  Packard,  as  in  1858,  and  continued  so  until 
his  death  in  1868,  when  the  Rev.  Richard  Newton,  D.D., 
was  appointed  editor  of  the  periodicals  and  Samuel  Austin 
Allibone,  LL.D.,  editor  of  the  book  publications.  The 
Sunday-School  World  continued  to  be  of  the  form  and  size 
noted  until  1872,  when  the  size  of  the  page  was  considerably 
increased  and  other  changes  made,  to  be  noticed  hereafter. 

New  Illustrated  Periodicals.— When  The  Sunday-School 
Times  was  begun  in  1859  (a  revival  of  The  Sunday-School 


CREATING  JUVENILE  LITERATURE  167 

Journal  of  1831,  in  fact),  changes  were  made  in  the  juvenile 
periodicals  also.  The  Youth1  s  Penny  Gazette,  a  folio  which 
had  been  issued  every  alternate  week  since  1842,  was  followed 
in  1859  by  The  Youth's  Sunday-School  Gazette,  issued  once  a 
month.  It  appeared  in  a  new  dress,  on  more  expensive  white 
paper,  with  a  greater  number  of  engravings,  though  some- 
what smaller  than  those  which  had  appeared  in  the  Penny 
Gazette.  The  matter  was  intended  for  youths  somewhat 
older  than  those  who  had  been  readers  of  the  former  paper. 
The  Gazette  was  issued  in  clubs — 100  copies  to  one  address 
for  eleven  dollars. 

At  the  same  time,  the  Society  published  The  Sunday-School 
Banner  every  week  for  children  and  youth  under  the  teen  age. 
It  was  about  the  same  size  and  style  as  the  former  Penny 
Gazette,  and  was  offered  to  schools  as  a  weekly,  a  semi- 
monthly, a  monthly,  or  three  times  a  month:  100  copies, 
monthly,  eight  dollars;  semi-monthly,  sixteen  dollars;  three 
times  a  month,  twenty-four  dollars;  weekly,  thirty-two  dol- 
lars a  year.  The  topics  treated  in  these  juvenile  papers  were 
moral  and  religious  for  the  most  part,  though  the  scope  was 
much  wider  than  that  of  its  predecessor,  The  Penny  Gazette. 
Articles  relating  to  nature  studies  and  similar  subjects  were 
frequently  presented  in  its  columns,  and  without  tacking  on 
a  moral  lesson  at  the  end. 

These  two  papers  were  discontinued  in  1861  and  were  fol- 
lowed by  The  Child's  World  in  1862,  issued  semi-monthly; 
100  copies  at  twelve  dollars,  or  monthly,  six  dollars.  The 
Civil  War,  which  increased  the  cost  of  everything,  com- 
pelled the  Society  to  double  this  price.  This  paper  was 
adapted  in  its  matter  to  interest  and  instruct  the  young  in 
the  same  way  as  The  Sunday-School  World  was  adapted  to 
adults.  The  special  feature  of  this  Child's  World  was  that  the 
fourth  folio  page  was  suited  to  children  just  beginning  to  read 
and  was  printed  in  large  type,  with  illustrations.  It  speedily 
attained  a  circulation  greater  than  any  of  its  predecessors  in 
their  palmiest  days,  and  continued  to  have  this  circulation  of 
more  than  200,000  copies  a  month  under  Dr.  Packard  and 
Dr.  Newton's  editorship. 

The  periodical  was  adopted  as  a  medium  of  information 
because  it  gave  a  large  amount  of  reading  matter  at  a  very 


168  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

small  price.  The  managers  frequently  called  attention  to 
this  fact.  Thus,  it  was  said:  "If  all  the  reading  matter  dis- 
tributed (through  the  three  periodicals)  in  the  form  of  sheets 
was  circulated  in  book  form,  it  would  be  equal  to  the  issue  of 
1,280,357  pages  in  a  day,  or  to  466,150,000  pages  a  year." 
Or,  they  put  it  in  another  way,  "The  amount  of  reading 
matter  sent  out  in  our  periodicals  is  equal  to  an  issue  of 
1,747  copies  daily  of  Pilgrim's  Progress.1' l 

Periodicals,  Later  Period. — In  1872  The  Sunday-School 
World  was  enlarged  and  reconstructed  as  to  the  arrangement 
and  the  kind  of  material  furnished  in  it.  The  new  Uniform 
Sunday-School  Lessons  were  begun  that  year,  as  elsewhere 
described.  New  features  were  adopted.  Expositions  of  the 
Sunday-school  lessons  were  furnished  by  the  Rev.  John  Hall, 
D.D.,  who  had  recently  come  to  New  York  from  Dublin; 
fresh  gleanings  from  the  Holy  Land  were  furnished  by  the 
editor,  Dr.  Richard  Newton;  practical  suggestions  on  methods 
of  conducting  and  teaching  in  Sunday-schools  were  furnished 
by  the  normal  secretary,  Rev.  H.  Clay  Trumbull;  and  a  con- 
densed record  of  progress  of  Sunday-school  work  at  home  and 
abroad  by  the  assistant  editor,  Edwin  W.  Rice;  besides  spe- 
cial discussions  on  timely  subjects  from  recognized  biblical 
scholars. 

These  articles  and  discussions  in  The  Sunday-School  World 
embraced  the  principles  and  methods  of  teaching;  approved 
modes  of  opening,  conducting,  and  closing  Sunday-schools; 
the  classification  of  scholars;  the  proper  management  of 
primary,  intermediate  and  adult  classes;  the  selection  and  dis- 
tribution of  libraries;  the  right  conduct  of  teachers'  meetings 
and  children's  services,  and  whatever  else  related  to  the  work 
of  the  Sunday-school  and  religious  instruction  in  the  home. 

Material  relating  to  the  missionary  work  of  the  Society 
was  also  presented  in  a  monthly  supplement  which  contained 
an  acknowledgment  of  the  donations  received  for  the  support 
of  that  work  from  month  to  month.  These  supplements 
sometimes  extended  to  eight  pages  quarto,  in  addition  to  the 
sixteen  large  quarto  pages  of  the  regular  issue. 

The  plan  of  studying  the  lessons  presented  in  The  Sunday- 
School  World  had  several  new  features.     The  entire  Bible 

«  Report,  1859,  p.  54. 


CREATING  JUVENILE  LITERATURE  169 

text  of  the  lessons  was  printed,  with  references  and  verses  to 
be  memorized,  and  a  central  truth.  Explanations  of  difficult 
words  were  given,  and  the  leading  truths  of  the  texts  were 
tersely  presented,  with  explanations,  to  exhibit  the  full  scope 
of  the  lesson  and  enable  the  teacher  with  directness  and 
fidelity  to  apply  it  to  the  life  and  conduct  of  the  pupils. 

These  helps  upon  the  lessons  in  the  World  were  not  de- 
signed to  be  taken  into  the  class  and  read,  but  to  aid  the 
teacher  in  the  preparation  and  right  understanding  of  the 
lesson  before  he  met  his  class.  To  aid  him  in  discovering 
whether  he  had  a  reasonable  grasp  of  the  truth,  suggestive 
points  or  topics  that  might  be  turned  into  questions  were 
added,  to  each  of  which  a  definite  answer  must  be  given  by  the 
teacher  or  the  pupil.  These  tests  would  enable  the  teacher 
beforehand  to  find  out  whether  he  had  a  sufficient  mastery  of 
the  Bible  lesson  to  teach  it  intelligently. 

Closely  related  to  the  lessons  in  The  Sunday-School  World 
were  treatments  of  the  same  lessons  for  the  scholars  in  several 
grades  (see  below). 

These  improvements  in  the  World  led  to  a  marvelous  in- 
crease in  its  circulation,  speedily  attaining  a  yearly  issue  of 
about  a  half-million  copies. 

The  Sunday-School  World  signalized  the  beginning  of  a 
new  seven  years'  course  of  International  Lessons  in  1880  by 
changing  its  form  from  that  of  a  sixteen-page  quarto  to  an 
octavo  magazine  of  thirty-six  pages  and  upward,  with  an 
engraved  cover.  The  readers  gave  gratifying  proof  of  their 
appreciation  of  this  change.  The  copies  were  bound  at  the 
end  of  the  year  and  preserved  by  friends  in  different  parts  of 
the  country.  The  editor,  Edwin  W.  Rice,  had  associated 
with  him  from  1879  the  Rev.  Moseley  H.  Williams,  a  Yale 
graduate,  who  had  previous  experience  as  a  journalist  and 
pastor.  The  Sunday-School  World  continued  under  the 
leadership  of  these  two  editors  and  their  assistants  for  over 
thirty  years,  various  new  features  being  introduced  as  condi- 
tions and  changes  arose  in  the  progress  of  biblical  and  religious 
education. 

Among  these  new  features  were:  (1)  A  series  of  articles  by 
the  American  Revision  Committee  explaining  the  purpose 
and  character  of  the  Anglo-American  version  of  the  Bible  then 


170  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

in  progress.  The  topics  upon  which  the  public  desired  in- 
formation were  indicated  by  Editor  Rice,  who,  with  the  co- 
operation of  Dr.  Philip  Schaff,  secured  the  treatment  of  each 
topic  by  an  accomplished  scholar  of  the  American  Revision 
Committee  who  had  given  a  life-study  to  that  particular  sub- 
ject. The  articles  (nineteen  of  them)  were  republished  in  a 
book,  and  had  an  important  influence  in  preparing  the  way 
for  an  intelligent  reception  of  the  revised  version  of  the  Bible 
when  it  was  first  issued  in  1881.  The  leading  papers  of  the 
country  found  them  a  rich  source  of  information. 

(2)  A  second  new  feature  was  giving  light  from  Oriental 
manners,  customs,  and  archaeological  research,  upon  the 
Bible  lesson  each  week  by  such  specialists  as  Prof.  George  E. 
Post  of  Beirut,  John  T.  Haddad  of  Damascus,  Selah  Merrill 
of  Jerusalem,  Explorer  F.  J.  Bliss  of  Syria,  and  many  others — 
a  line  of  Bible  interpretation  which  was  soon  adopted  by 
other  teachers'  journals. 

(3)  A  third  feature  was  a  series  of  papers  on  child  develop- 
ment by  Rev.  Moseley  H.  Williams,  with  other  lines  on 
principles  and  methods  of  teaching  by  Dr.  Addison  P.  Foster. 
Alice  W.  Knox  advocated  the  new  class  system  in  primary 
work,  and  John  B.  Smith  contributed  a  superintendent's 
review  of  the  lesson. 

(4)  A  fourth  feature  was  suggesting  applications  and  illus- 
trations of  special  truths  under  each  lesson. 

(5)  Sketches  of  epochs  in  the  history  of  the  Sunday-school 
movement  by  the  editor,  Edwin  W.  Rice. 

Periodicals  for  Scholars. — A  special  system  of  lesson  helps 
adapted  to  the  pupils  was  developed  in  harmony  with  the 
studies  for  teachers  in  The  Sunday-School  World.  Hitherto 
the  pupils  had  received  little  aid  in  Bible  study  except 
through  catechisms  and  question  books.  Out  of  his  experi- 
ence and  observation  Editor  Rice  conceived  of  a  system  of 
periodicals  intended  to  awaken  the  interest  and  aid  all  grades 
of  scholars  in  Bible  study,  one  which  would  be  adapted  to  the 
successive  stages  of  mental  development  of  learners. 

This  system  of  helps  started  with  The  Primary  Lesson 
Paper,  giving  the  story  of  the  lesson,  things  to  remember,  and 
questions  and  answers  in  the  words  of  the  Bible  text  for  in- 
structing little  ones. 


CREATING  JUVENILE  LITERATURE  171 

The  Intermediate  Lesson  Paper  had  the  text,  central  truth 
and  daily  readings,  with  a  sketch  of  the  lesson,  questions,  and 
applications,  calling  for  some  reflection.  The  Advanced 
Lesson  Paper  for  more  mature  minds  added  an  analysis  of  the 
truths  of  the  text,  and  called  for  the  practical  lessons  to  be 
drawn  from  the  text. 

To  aid  in  retaining  these  truths  a  Scholars1  and  Teachers7 
Quarterly  Review  Paper  was  issued,  showing  the  scholar  how 
to  review  the  studies  of  the  three  months,  and  a  similar 
quarterly,  called  The  Superintendent's  Review  Paper,  was  pub- 
lished to  aid  the  superintendent  in  making  a  three  months' 
review  of  the  lessons  in  the  whole  school.  With  The  Super- 
intendent's Review  Paper  was  issued  a  large  Review  Wall 
Chart,  printed  in  bold  type,  so  that  it  could  be  read  by  all  in 
an  ordinary  schoolroom. 

The  graded  lesson  papers  for  scholars  were  appreciated 
and  created  a  desire  for  a  bound  volume.  So  the  Scholars' 
Handbook  on  each  year's  lessons  was  issued  in  parts  (1874- 
1889).  This  was  recognized  as  the  scholars'  commentary. 
It  contained  the  Bible  text  in  paragraphs,  a  sketch  of  events 
omitted  in  the  course  of  the  lessons,  a  description  of  places, 
persons,  and  customs,  and  brief  explanations  and  suggestions, 
with  illustrations,  maps,  blackboard  outlines,  and  charts;  in 
fact,  a  complete  help  for  scholars.  The  Handbook  was 
adopted  and  translated  into  Dutch  by  the  Netherlands 
Sunday-School  Union.  An  edition  in  Italian  was  also  issued 
at  Rome  and  a  Protestant  Episcopal  edition  adapted  to  the 
church  year  was  issued  for  several  years  (1878-1880). 

Rice's  Handbook  created  a  call  for  The  Scholars'  Companion 
(1878-79),  which*  he  also  edited.  This  was  a  monthly,  giv- 
ing fuller  explanations,  studies,  notes,  tests  of  study,  and 
pictures,  with  answers  to  such  questions  as  the  pupils  would 
be  likely  to  ask.  It  was  in  square  quarto  form,  eight  pages, 
at  twenty  cents  a  year,  single  copies. 

The  Scholars'  Companion  was  followed  after  two  years  by 
The  American  Sunday-School  Union  Quarterly  (1880),  issued 
in  larger  quarto  form  than  the  Companion  and  illustrated, 
and  presenting  the  lessons  for  three  months  in  one  number, 
at  twenty  cents  a  year. 

The  increased  interest  in  Sunday-school  study  awakened  a 


172  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

demand  for  a  similar  help  for  the  younger  scholars,  so  The 
Primary  Quarterly  was  issued,  printed  on  pink-tinted  paper,  a 
square  quarto,  with  enlarged  type  and  original  engravings  illus- 
trative of  each  lesson. 

Illustrated  Reading  for  the  Home.— The  Child's  World, 
which  succeeded  The  Youth's  Penny  Gazette  of  1842,  was  pub- 
lished continuously  from  1862  to  1881,  when  it  was  suc- 
ceeded by  two  papers,  to  increase  the  interest  in  religious 
reading  in  the  home.  The  Union  began  (1881)  The  Picture 
World,  with  large  type,  and  prepared  specially  for  the 
very  little  ones.  It  was  a  folio,  eight-page  paper,  in  four 
parts,  so  that  it  could  be  cut,  and  a  part  distributed  every 
Sunday.  For  the  older  boys  and  girls  the  title  of  The  Child's 
World  was  changed  to  The  Youth's  World,  and  the  matter 
adapted  to  those  of  somewhat  more  mature  taste.  It  con- 
tained sketches  of  Scripture  events,  studies  in  nature  and 
music,  and  stories  by  popular  writers.  In  January,  1882,  two 
new  illustrated  periodicals  were  added :  The  Illustrated  Treasury 
of  Knowledge,  devoted  especially  to  information  concerning 
God's  wonderful  works  in  Nature  as  revealed  by  modern 
science  and  explorations;  and  Truth  in  Life,  a  temperance 
paper,  showing  the  manifold  nature  of  God's  physical  laws  and 
the  importance  of  obeying  them. 

In  January,  1883,  a  fourth  illustrated  paper  of  similar  style 
and  price,  entitled  The  Sunday  Hour,  was  issued,  containing 
Scripture  biographies,  popular  accounts  of  explorations,  and 
studies  in  Bible  lands  with  pictorial  illustrations.  Thus  each 
of  these  papers  had  a  distinct  field  and  presented  attractive 
reading  for  the  home,  helpful  in  developing  moral  and  religious 
character. 

The  development  of  these  changes  and  the  increased  in- 
terest which  they  brought  to  the  illustrated  periodicals  were 
chiefly  due  to  the  skill  and  discrimination  of  the  assistant 
editor,  the  Rev.  Moseley  H.  Williams,  Ph.D. 

In  January,  1888,  The  Illustrated  Treasury  of  Knowledge 
and  Truth  in  Life  were  merged  in  The  People's  Paper,  a  semi- 
monthly, to  meet  a  call  for  a  low-priced  illustrated  periodical. 
In  1891  the  Union  was  asked  by  many  children,  "Why  not 
get  a  paper  every  time  we  go  to  Sunday-school?"  In  response 
to  this  the  Union  began  that  year  the  publication  of  an  illus- 


CREATING  JUVENILE  LITERATURE  173 

trated  periodical  called  The  Young  People's  Paper,  a  weekly, 
printed  on  toned  paper  in  good  type  and  filled  with  illustra- 
tions, stories,  and  material  intended  to  enforce  Bible  truths  in 
the  home.  At  the  end  of  the  year  (1891)  The  Youth's  World 
and  The  Sunday  Hour  were  discontinued;  The  Young  People's 
Paper  was  improved  and  The  Picture  World  was  made  more 
attractive  for  the  little  ones. 

In  January,  1913,  The  Sunday-School  World  was  enlarged 
and  improved  by  adding  comments  on  the  daily  Bible  read- 
ings on  an  original  plan,  prepared  by  the  Rev.  F.  B.  Meyer  of 
London.  Besides  special  expositions  of  the  Bible  lessons 
suited  to  adults,  as  presented  by  Rev.  James  McConaughy, 
who  had  been  added  to  the  editorial  force,  other  helps  suited 
to  boys  and  girls,  with  suggestions  to  teachers  of  younger 
children,  were  also  provided,  in  addition  to  the  features  which 
had  previously  been  given,  such  as  illustrations  from  life,  and 
lights  from  the  Orient  furnished  by  residents  in  Bible  lands,  so 
that  the  Bible  could  be  read  " through  Oriental  eyes." 

Further  important  changes  were  made  in  the  editorial 
force  in  March,  1915.  The  Rev.  James  McConaughy  was 
elected  editor  of  the  Society's  publications,  to  succeed  Dr. 
Rice  (now  honorary  editor),  and  the  Rev.  A.  J.  R.  Schumaker, 
assistant  editor,  in  place  of  the  Rev.  Moseley  H.  Williams, 
Ph.D.  (retained  as  honorary  assistant  editor).  Other  changes 
followed  in  fulfilment  of  the  purpose  of  the  American  Sunday- 
School  Union  ever  to  provide  a  sound,  evangelical,  and  inter- 
esting Sunday-school  literature. 

The  learned  expositions  provided  in  The  Sunday-School 
World  by  Prof.  Ozora  S.  Davis,  D.D.,  were  reinforced  by  many 
new  writers,  presenting  the  truths  of  the  lessons  in  forms 
adapted  to  aid  teachers  in  the  various  grades  of  Sunday-school 
instruction.  Blackboard  outlines  and  suggestions  for  super- 
intendents were  also  presented  by  experienced  workers. 

Appreciation  of  these  improvements  was  shown  by  a 
marked  increase  in  the  circulation  of  the  World  and  the 
Society's  series  of  helps.  The  issue  of  a  periodical  for  home 
study,  entitled  Sunday-School  at  Home,  was  begun  in  July, 
1915.  The  Union  Quarterly  was  more  closely  adapted  to  the 
needs  of  older  boys  and  girls  and  to  adults,  and  in  January, 
1917,  the  Primary  Quarterly  was  restricted  to  the  needs  of 


174  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

younger  scholars  up  to  nine  years  of  age,  and  a  Junior  Quar- 
terly begun  for  those  from  eight  to  twelve.  One  feature  of  the 
quarterlies  is  the  handwork,  besides  many  suggestions  to 
teachers  of  these  grades,  added  to  the  material  for  the  pupils, 
and  a  better  typographic  appearance,  and  in  the  Sunday- 
School  at  Home  special  pages  of  reading  matter  for  those  fol- 
lowing the  Sunday-school  lessons,  with  hints  on  methods  of 
organizing  and  developing  home  study.  A  careful  revision 
was  made  also  of  the  Little  People's  Lesson  Pictures  and  of  the 
picture  roll.  All  these  changes  and  improvements  increased 
the  usefulness  of  these  periodicals,  but  rendered  them  more 
closely  fitted  to  the  classes  for  which  they  were  designed. 

The  Young  People's  Paper,  weekly,  was  filled  with  more 
original  designs  and  engravings,  and  with  reading  matter  for 
young  persons,  while  The  Picture  World,  also  issued  weekly, 
met  the  requirements  of  children  of  a  younger  age,  including 
a  story  of  the  Sunday-school  lesson  told  in  simple  language 
and  illustrated  by  incidents  from  real  life,  with  correspondence 
with  children  from  different  parts  of  the  country  occupying 
several  pages  each  month. 

These  and  other  improvements  marked  the  advent  of  the 
centennial  year  of  the  Society's  history  in  1917. 

SKETCHES    OF    PROMINENT    WORKERS 

Frederick  Adolphus  Packard,  LL.D.,  Editor  and  Secretary  (1829- 
1867). 
More  than  to  any  other  one  man  the  shaping  of  the  early 
literature  of  the  American  Sunday-School  Union  was  due  to 
Frederick  A.  Packard.  A  lawyer,  a  man  of  affairs,  an  accom- 
plished scholar,  an  indefatigable  worker,  and  a  humble-minded 
consecrated  Christian,  he  gave  his  life  to  the  formation  and 
upbuilding  of  the  Sunday-school  cause  in  America.  To  miss 
the  inspiration  of  his  honored  career  and  his  life  would  be  a 
great  public  loss.  Mr.  Packard  was  born  in  Marlborough, 
Massachusetts,  September  26,  1794.  His  father,  pastor  of 
the  church  in  that  town,  and  his  mother  (a  Quincy)  were 
lineal  descendants  of  old  Puritan  families.  The  son  was  edu- 
cated at  a  noted  school  of  his  uncle's  in  Wiscasset,  Maine,  and 
graduated  at  Harvard  College  with  the  honors  of  his  class  in 
1814.     It  is  significant  of  the  bent  of  his  mind  and  of  his 


CREATING  JUVENILE  LITERATURE  175 

learning  that  his  commencement  oration  was  in  the  Hebrew 
language.  He  studied  law  in  Northampton  and  entered  the 
profession  in  Springfield,  Massachusetts.  He  was  also  the 
editor  and  proprietor  of  The  Hampshire  Federalist  in  1819,  a 
predecessor  of  The  Springfield  Republican. 

His  religious  views  and  life  were  shaped  imder  the  influence 
of  Dr.  Samuel  Osgood,  and  also  by  Judge  John  Hooker,  whose 
daughter,  Elizabeth  D wight,  he  married  in  1822.  He  was 
connected  with  the  Sunday-school  of  the  Congregational 
Church  of  Springfield  and  chosen  superintendent  in  1827. 
It  is  said  that  he  took  peculiar  interest  in  selecting  books  for 
the  library  of  the  school.  His  literary  taste  and  his  earnest 
piety  made  him  a  good  judge  of  the  best  reading  for  the 
young. 

In  these  three  forms  of  service  he  gained  a  high  reputation, 
so  that  in  1828  he  was  sent  as  a  delegate  to  attend  the  anni- 
versary of  the  American  Sunday-School  Union.  By  his 
wisdom  and  force  of  thought  he  made  so  favorable  an  impres- 
sion upon  that  meeting  that  the  Society  soon  sent  one  of  its 
managers  (J.  H.  Dulles)  to  secure  him  for  the  position  of 
editor  of  its  publications.  This  call  involved  giving  up  bright 
prospects  and  an  assured  income  as  a  lawyer,  and  a  removal 
from  among  his  friends  and  those  of  his  family  to  a  strange 
city,  to  an  untried  work,  on  a  limited  income.  But  it  was  a 
service  in  which  he  might  become  widely  useful  in  promoting 
the  religious  education  of  the  young  of  the  nation.  After  a 
thoughtful  and  prayerful  consideration  of  the  call,  he  regarded 
it  from  God  and  accepted  it.  He  held  that  position  for  nearly 
forty  years,  discharging  its  duties  with  singular  discretion, 
scholarship,  and  ability.  With  the  exception  of  two  years  of 
the  period  from  1829  to  1867  about  every  publication  bear- 
ing the  Society's  imprint,  to  the  number  of  upward  of  2,000, 
were  carefully  examined  and  in  one  way  or  another  bore  his 
editorial  impress.  Several  that  had  the  largest  circulation 
and  the  widest  usefulness  were  the  product  of  his  versatile 
mind. 

Most  of  the  annual  reports  of  the  Society  for  twenty-five 
years  were  prepared  by  him  under  the  direction  of  the  man- 
agers, while  he  also  bore  a  full  share  in  the  plans  for  the  dis- 
tribution of  its  literature  and  in  projecting  its  splendid  mis- 


176  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

sionary  enterprises  for  the  extension  of  Bible  schools  in  the 
older  states  and  throughout  the  new  West.  He  exerted  an 
important  influence  on  the  public-school  system  of  several  of 
the  states,  and  in  reforming,  to  some  extent,  the  prison  disci- 
pline, acting  as  editor  of  a  journal  on  that  subject  for  a  number 
of  years.  His  sane  views  on  education  and  his  skill  in  disci- 
pline, together  with  his  ripe  experience  and  genial  personality, 
caused  him  to  be  twice  invited  to  become  the  president  of 
Girard  College.  Although  this  had  the  attractions  of  a  larger 
salary  and  better  residence  and  increased  social  advantages, 
he  declined  to  leave  what  he  had  chosen  to  be  his  life-work. 

His  catholicity  of  spirit  was  shown  by  the  pleasure  which  he 
took  in  worshiping  not  only  in  the  Clinton  Street  Congre- 
gational Church  of  Philadelphia,  but,  after  that  was  dis- 
banded, with  equal  pleasure  in  the  Presbyterian,  and  later  in 
the  Episcopal  Church.  He  became  a  pew-holder  in  the  latter, 
but  always  retained  his  membership  in  the  church  of  his  first 
love  and  choice. 

Perhaps  in  no  other  period  of  his  life  were  the  wisdom  and 
grace  of  his  Christian  character  more  conspicuous  than  when 
unpleasant  differences  among  the  managers  of  the  Union  led 
to  a  suspension  of  his  duties  for  some  months  preceding  the 
Civil  War.  This  act  gave  greater  grief  to  his  friends  than  to 
him,  for  they  missed  his  counsels  in  regard  to  the  future  of  the 
Society's  operations.  No  one  can  read  his  private  correspond- 
ence with  managers  of  that  period  without  being  profoundly 
impressed  with  the  depth  of  his  Christian  character,  his  cour- 
tesy, and  his  loyalty  to  the  work  which  kept  out  any  shade  of 
bitterness  from  his  spirit.  Happily,  some  of  the  opposition 
withdrew,  harmony  was  restored,  and  Dr.  Packard  resumed 
his  editorial  work.  The  wisdom  and  spirit  of  the  course 
pursued  by  his  friends  in  the  Board  commanded  the  confi- 
dence and  support  of  the  members  and  supporters  of  the 
Union  generally  throughout  the  country. 

Out  of  this  experience,  which  imparted  a  mellowness  and 
ripeness  to  his  Christian  character,  he  wrote  The  Higher  Rock, 
wherein  he  graphically  presents  some  of  the  fundamental  and 
profound  truths  of  the  Christian  life. 

Mr.  Dulles,  a  lifelong  friend  in  the  Board  of  Managers,  paid 
this  tribute  to  him: 


CREATING  JUVENILE  LITERATURE  177 

No  society  was  ever  blessed  with  a  more  devoted,  energetic, 
able  and  indefatigable  officer;  nor  has  the  great  cause  of  Christian 
education  ever  had  a  more  zealous  and  intelligent  advocate. 
.  .  .  He  came  to  it  in  its  infancy;  and,  bringing  with  him  a 
clear  and  sound  judgment,  a  vigorous  and  cultivated  intellect,  a 
heart  alive  to  the  great  interests  of  humanity,  and  a  conscientious 
devotion  to  his  work,  he  was  enabled  by  his  studies,  his  counsels 
at  the  Board  and  the  productions  of  his  pen,  to  exert  the  most 
powerful  influence  in  promoting  the  objects  of  this  Society  and 
making  it  the  means  of  shaping  the  views  and  characters  of  four 
successive  generations.  Almost  every  book  on  its  catalogue  has 
been  subjected  to  his  thoughtful  and  careful  revision;  and  among 
them  are  many,  by  no  means  the  least  excellent,  of  which  he  is  the 
author. 

Among  the  most  useful  and  important  of  his  works  are: 
The  Teacher  Taught,  The  Teacher  Teaching,  The  Union  Bible 
Dictionary  (1855),  The  Higher  Rock,  and  Life  of  Robert  Owen. 
Not  less  important  were  his  frequent  contributions  on  public 
education,  on  prison  discipline,  and  upon  the  extension  and 
management  and  improvement  of  Sunday-schools.  In  the 
latter  field  he  was  recognized  as  a  master  thinker  in  his  day. 

Dr.  Packard's  view  was  that  all  publications  of  the  American 
Sunday-School  Union  should  be  prepared  and  edited  imper- 
sonally, since  he  regarded  the  Society's  imprint  as  more 
weighty  than  any  individual  name.  He  made  a  very  few 
eminent  authors  exceptions  to  this  rule.  Probably  this  view 
was  partly  the  fruit  of  his  own  modesty,  for  he  shunned  every 
species  of  publicity,  none  of  his  useful  works  bearing  his 
name,  with  perhaps  one  or  two  exceptions. 

During  the  last  few  months  of  his  life  he  was  a  great  sufferer 
from  the  distressing  nature  of  his  disease  (a  cancerous  affec- 
tion of  the  lip),  which  shut  him  in  a  dark  room.  He  passed  to 
his  reward  November  11,  1867,  at  the  age  of  seventy-three, 
confidently  trusting  in  the  grace  of  his  Redeemer. 

Hon.  James  Pollock,  LL.D.  (1810-1890). 

James  Pollock  was  vice-president  of  the  American  Sunday- 
School  Union  for  thirty-five  years,  1855-1890.  He  had  the 
distinction  of  having  presided  over  a  greater  number  of 
business  meetings  of  the  Society  than  any  other  officer  ex- 
cepting Alexander  Henry.  Mr.  Pollock  was  eminent  as  a 
statesman,  jurist  and  governor,  a  popular  and  forcible  speaker, 
and  an  exemplary  Christian  worker.     A  country  boy,  born  in 


178  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

Milton,  Pennsylvania,  September  11,  1810,  he  graduated  at 
Princeton  College  in  1831,  entered  the  profession  of  law  and 
rose  rapidly  to  distinction,  first  in  his  native  state  and  later  in 
the  nation.  His  sterling  integrity  and  Christian  patriotism 
caused  him  to  be  chosen  governor  of  the  state.  While  direc- 
tor of  the  United  States  Mint  in  Philadelphia,  he  suggested 
placing  the  motto  "In  God  We  Trust"  upon  the  national  coin, 
which  was  done.  His  ability  and  broad  culture  were  recog- 
nized by  two  colleges  bestowing  upon  him  the  honorary  de- 
gree of  Doctor  of  Laws. 

For  years  he  was  the  head  of  a  large  Bible  class  and  super- 
intendent of  a  Sunday-school.  His  prominence  in  this  work 
caused  him  to  be  chosen,  from  among  many  notable  men,  as 
president  of  the  third  National  Sunday-School  Convention, 
Philadelphia,  1859.  His  enthusiasm  and  wisdom  in  promot- 
ing religion  is  well  illustrated  by  a  speech  of  great  fervency 
which  he  made  when  presiding  at  an  anniversary  of  the 
American  Sunday-School  Union  in  1855.  Interpreting  the 
name  of  the  Society  to  signify  patriotism,  religion  and  love,  he 
flashed  forth  his  thought  in  these  burning  words: 

Citizens  of  America:  Have  you  ever  stopped  to  think  where 
you  are,  what  you  have  been,  and  what  is  your  destiny?  There 
is  a  national  Christianity,  ...  an  American  conscience,  a 
great  American  heart;  that  heart,  that  conscience  must  be 
touched,  must  be  enlightened  with  the  glorious  truths  of  the 
Bible  ere  they  can  feel  and  realize  and  know  the  responsibilities 
they  owe  to  their  country.  .  .  .  American!  Every  associa- 
tion that  surrounds  that  name  pleads  eloquently  the  cause  of 
the  American  Sunday-School  Union.  .  .  .  As  an  instrumen- 
tality it  comes  to  the  American  heart,  to  the  American  con- 
science; it  comes,  as  it  ought  to  come,  to  the  young  heart  in  all  its 
innocence,  in  all  its  joyousness;  it  comes  to  the  child  in  its 
mother's  lap;  to  the  son  just  beginning  to  realize  that  he  may  be 
a  man;  to  the  daughter,  that  she  may  possibly  be  released  some 
day  from  the  cares  and  anxiety  of  her  mother;  it  comes  to  that 
class  who,  above  all,  are  to  be  the  glory  and  upbuilding  of  our 
country — the  children! 

His  humility  was  sometimes  shown  to  be  quite  equal  to 
his  greatness.  When  Chief  Magistrate  of  the  state,  he  was 
called  to  preside  at  a  meeting  of  the  Sunday-School  Union 
where  the  hope  was  expressed  that  the  influence  of  the  relig- 
ious magistrate  of  the  state  would  ever  be  found  on  the  side 
of  truth  and  righteousness.     Mr.  Pollock  responded  to  this 


CREATING  JUVENILE  LITERATURE  179 

spontaneous  esteem  with  words  of  warm  appreciation  and 
with  deep  feeling: 

I  feel  and,  in  the  presence  of  my  God,  desire  to  realize  my  ac- 
countability to  him.  .  .  .  While  I  regard  the  approbation  of 
my  fellow-man,  give  me,  oh,  give  me  the  approbation  of  an  ap- 
proving conscience,  and  I  will  feel  happier  and  prouder  than  amid 
the  loudest  plaudits  that  ever  fell  from  the  lips  of  an  admiring 
world. 

He  was  always  eager  to  do  the  Lord's  business,  with  ear- 
nestness and  dispatch — sometimes  approaching  to  haste  and 
abruptness — but  with  a  depth  of  consecration  which  those 
who  knew  him  best  appreciated,  while  conscious  of  the  power 
of  his  masterful  mind  and  loving  heart.  He  filled  fourscore 
years  with  blessed  service  for  his  fellow-men. 

John  Seely  Hart,  LL.D.  (1810-1877),  Editor  of  Periodicals  (1858- 
1860). 

Dr.  John  S.  Hart,  educator,  editor  and  author,  of  New 
England  ancestry,  was  born  at  Stockbridge,  Massachusetts, 
January  28,  1810;  graduated  at  Princeton  College  1830, 
where  he  became  professor  of  ancient  languages  and  later  of 
rhetoric;  was  principal  of  the  Philadelphia  High  School  and 
of  the  New  Jersey  Normal  School. 

Among  many  educational  works  of  which  he  was  author, 
are  Thoughts  on  Sabbath-Schools,  Sunday-School  Idea,  and  a 
treatise  on  rhetoric.  He  also  edited,  for  a  brief  time,  the 
Pennsylvania  Common  School  Journal  and  Sartain's  Magazine. 

His  wide  knowledge  of  literature  and  his  experience  as  an 
educator  led  the  American  Sunday-School  Union  to  choose 
him  as  editor  of  its  periodicals  in  1858.  He  edited  The 
Sunday-School  Times,  first  issued  by  the  Union.  In  1861,  he 
resigned  as  editor  of  periodicals  of  the  Union,  becoming  the 
proprietor  of  The  Sunday-School  Times.  This  he  continued 
for  some  years  on  his  own  responsibility,  until  he  sold  it  to 
J.  C.  Garrigues,  from  whom  it  was  acquired  by  John  Wana- 
maker,  and  then  by  Henry  Clay  Trumbull  and  The  Sunday- 
School  Times  Company.  Mr.  Hart  suggested  many  improve- 
ments in  the  Union's  literature.  The  more  important  of  them 
were  carried  out  in  the  face  of  great  financial  obstacles.  He 
was  progressive  in  his  educational  ideas,  an  acute  thinker,  a 


180  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

tactful  and  winning  teacher  of  the  young,  and  an  earnest  and 
exemplary  Christian. 

Richard  Newton,  D.D.  (1813-1887),  Editor  of  Periodicals  (1867- 
1877). 

Dr.  Richard  Newton  attained  a  world-wide  reputation  as 
a  Christian  worker  and  writer  for  youth.  "The  Prince  of 
Children's  Preachers/'  was  the  title  given  him  by  Charles 
Spurgeon  of  London.  Dr.  Newton  was  born  in  Liverpool, 
England,  1813;  graduated  at  the  University  of  Pennsylvania; 
studied  theology  and  entered  the  Protestant  Episcopal  min- 
istry; and  was  rector  in  three  important  parishes  in  Phila- 
delphia from  1840  to  1887.  For  years  he  preached  sermons  to 
children  at  intervals,  usually  once  a  month.  These  sermons 
were  published  in  about  thirty  volumes.  His  material  for 
them  and  for  his  other  books  was  gleaned  from  every  source, 
making  it  encyclopaedic  in  scope.  In  this  he  was  aided  by 
one  of  his  family  who  was  a  wide  reader,  and  clipped  or  copied 
from  current  literature,  newspapers,  books,  and  every  source, 
anecdotes  and  facts  which  were  collected  in  a  series  of  scrap- 
books,  indexed  by  subjects.  To  these  Dr.  Newton  had  resort 
whenever  he  wished  illustrations  upon  any  subject  that  he 
was  called  to  treat.  He  wrote  for  the  American  Sunday- 
School  Union  Illustrated  Rambles  in  Bible  Lands,  Five-Minute 
Talks  for  the  Young,  and  other  works,  as  Heroes  of  the  Early 
Church  and  Heroes  of  the  Reformation,  which  had  a  wide  circula- 
tion. His  largest  work  was  The  Life  of  Jesus  Christ,  illustrated. 
His  books  were  translated  into  more  than  fourteen  languages. 

As  editor  of  the  periodicals  of  the  American  Sunday-School 
Union  for  about  ten  years  he  skilfully  presented  the  simple 
truths  of  the  gospel  in  attractive  and  illustrative  forms,  and 
gave  a  clear  gospel-note  to  the  periodical  literature  of  the 
Union.  While  reverential  and  dignified  in  manner,  there  was 
nothing  somber  or  gloomy  in  his  teachings.  He  always  pre- 
sented the  Christian  life  to  the  young  as  a  cheerful,  glad  and 
happy  one;  not  only  as  the  way  to  be  saved,  but  the  only  way 
to  make  this  life  worth  living.  Though  devoting  most  of 
his  time  to  pastoral  and  not  to  editorial  work,  he  was  an  in- 
spiring guide  always  to  the  office  editor  and  force,  in  shaping 
and  arranging  the  periodical  material. 


CREATING  JUVENILE  LITERATURE  181 

Samuel  Austin  Allibone,  LL.D.  (1816-1889),  Editor  (1868-1879). 

Born  in  Philadelphia  and  for  years  engrossed  in  business, 
his  controlling  passion  for  books  led  Dr.  Allibone  to  achieve 
first  rank  among  American  bibliographers.  His  Dictionary  of 
Authors  was  a  monumental  and  standard  work,  giving  notices 
of  46,499  authors  of  England  and  America,  filling  three  volumes, 
each  of  a  thousand  closely  printed  pages.  A  list  of  the  works 
of  each  author  is  given  with  a  verdict  thereon  gleaned  from 
many  critics. 

Dr.  Allibone  was  book  editor  of  the  American  Sunday-School 
Union,  from  1868  until  1879,  broken  by  a  year's  absence  in 
Europe.  He  wrote  four  improved  and  explanatory  question 
books  for  the  Society  on  the  Gospels  and  the  Acts,  an  Index  to  the 
New  Testament,  and  a  Union  Bible  Companion,  and  edited  many 
other  works  for  the  Union.  He  was  a  wide  reader,  an  indus- 
trious worker,  and  a  frequent  visitor  to  hospitals  and  prisons, 
to  which  he  carried  the  gospel  message.  He  always  had 
religious  pamphlets  or  tracts  in  his  pocket,  giving  them  dis- 
creetly on  the  street,  in  the  cars,  and  wherever  opportunity 
offered.  In  an  age  of  literary  pretense,  he  did  not  disdain 
to  serve  his  Master  by  scattering  tracts  containing  the  words 
of  life  in  very  plain  and  simple  forms.  He  made  a  compre- 
hensive and  admirable  classification  of  all  the  publications  of 
the  Union,  showing  that  while  its  issues  were  on  religious  sub- 
jects, the  largest  proportion  of  them  were  instructive,  vigorous, 
and  substantial  works,  rather  than  homiletical,  or  works  of 
fiction.1    Died  at  Lucerne,  Switzerland,  September  2,  1889. 

John  Hall,  D.D.,  New  York  (1829-1898). 

No  man  had  a  greater  influence  than  Rev.  Dr.  John  Hall  of 
New  York  in  the  marked  advance  made  in  Bible  and  Sunday- 
school  study  in  America  when  the  Uniform  Lesson  System  of 
1872  was  adopted.  As  soon  as  the  committee  of  fifteen  pub- 
lishers had  agreed  upon  a  series  of  lessons  in  1871,  Dr.  Hall 
was  promptly  secured  to  prepare  the  expositions  of  the  lessons 
for  the  American  Sunday-School  Union.  His  reputation  as  a 
biblical  scholar,  his  popularity  as  an  expository  preacher,  his 
experience  in  preparing  similar  lessons  abroad  as  editor  of 
The  Evangelical  Witness  of  Ireland,  pointed  him  out  as  emi- 

i  S.  D.  McConnell,  D.D.,  In  Memory  of  S.  Austin  Allibone,  LL.D.,  1890. 


182  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

nently  qualified  for  aiding  in  the  introduction  and  promotion 
of  the  new  Uniform  System  in  America. 

For  fifteen  years  with  rare  fidelity,  firmness,  and  scholarly 
compactness  of  thought  and  expression,  he  presented  the 
meaning  of  the  Bible  Lessons  in  The  Sunday-School  World  to 
the  instruction  and  delight  of  teachers  and  scholars  on  both 
sides  of  the  Atlantic. 

Dr.  Hall  was  among  the  first  three  named  on  the  Lesson 
Committee  by  the  International  Sunday-School  Convention 
of  1872,  and  with  them  selected  lessons  and  wrote  expositions 
not  only  for  the  preliminary  year  1872,  but  through  two  com- 
plete cycles  of  study.  These  Uniform  Lessons  and  his  expo- 
sitions were  foremost  in  promoting  a  remarkable  advance — 
almost  a  complete  revolution — in  the  form  and  character  of 
Sunday-school  study;  and  the  advance  and  popularity  of  the 
system  became  a  marvelous  phenomenon  in  the  history  of 
American  Christianity.  The  circulation  of  The  Sunday- 
School  World  and  the  Society's  biblical  helps  was  speedily 
trebled  (about  half  a  million  a  year). 

Dr.  Hall  not  only  rendered  great  services  to  the  cause  by 
preparing  these  expositions  for  the  lessons,  but  also  in  heartily 
and  ably  presenting  the  work  of  the  Union  in  prominent  cities, 
East  and  West.  With  singular  ability  and  earnestness,  he  be- 
came a  tower  of  strength  in  advocating  its  missionary  and 
publication  work,  greatly  strengthening  the  Society  and  in- 
creasing its  benevolent  operations.  During  his  ministry,  his 
church  was  a  generous  friend  and  a  very  liberal  contributor 
to  the  support  of  the  Union;  a  legacy  of  upward  of  $80,000 
came  from  members  of  his  church.  His  best  thought  for  the 
formation  of  a  Christian  Home  and  how  to  maintain  it,  was 
worked  out  in  a  volume  published  by  the  Society,  which  was 
widely  circulated  and  was  also  a  favorite  wedding  gift.  The 
impulse  which  he  gave  to  evangelical  Christianity  will  long  be 
felt,  not  only  in  America  but  throughout  the  world. 

Henry  Clay  Trumbull,  D.D.,  LL.D.  (1830-1903),  Missionary  and 
Normal  Secretary  (1858-1875). 
In  the  galaxy  of  distinguished  Sunday-school  workers  of  the 
last  half  of  the  nineteenth  century,  few  attained  the  promi- 
nence and  wielded  such  an  influence  as  Henry  Clay  Trumbull. 


CREATING  JUVENILE  LITERATURE  183 

Endowed  with  rich  natural  gifts,  fiery  in  temperament,  im- 
perious in  manner,  alert  in  mind,  acute  in  judgment,  and 
working  at  a  high  tension,  he  was  a  conspicuous  leader,  proud 
to  be  counted  a  Puritan  of  Puritans.  Spiritually  trained  under 
Dr.  Joel  Hawes,  Charles  G.  Finney  and  Horace  Bushnell,  and 
associated  for  some  years  in  mission  work  with  "Father" 
David  Hawley,  his  success  in  missions  led  to  his  call  for  a 
wider  work  among  teachers  in  Connecticut,  and  by  the 
American  Sunday-School  Union  in  August,  1858.  His  seven- 
teen years'  service  was  interrupted  by  a  call  as  chaplain  dur- 
ing the  Civil  War,  from  1862  to  1865,  but  he  continued  to 
hold  the  Society's  commission  during  the  interval. 

He  was  as  active  with  his  pen  as  in  person,  writing  six  thou- 
sand letters  within  four  years,  making  one  thousand  addresses, 
visiting  five  hundred  schools,  besides  forming  seventy-five  new 
ones,  and  through  his  earnest  and  impetuous  manner  multiply- 
ing himself  over  and  over  again  by  stimulating  others  to  a  like 
service.  Returning  from  the  army,  he  was  chosen  secretary 
of  missions  for  New  England  and  Normal  secretary  of  the 
American  Sunday-School  Union;  was  a  prominent  leader  in 
the  missionary  conference  at  Chicago  in  1866,  influential  in 
the  National  Sunday-School  Conventions,  and  a  voluminous 
contributor  to  the  Sunday-school  magazines  and  journals. 
He  was  the  author  of  numerous  biblical  and  Sunday-school 
works;  chief  among  the  latter  were:  Yale  Lectures,  Teachers  and 
Teaching,  and  Individual  Work  for  Individuals.  He  resigned 
his  position  with  the  American  Sunday-School  Union  in 
1875  to  become  editor  and  proprietor  of  The  Sunday-School 
Times,  in  which  position  he  continued  to  the  end  of  his 
life. 

He  retained  the  warmest  interest  in  the  work  of  the  Union, 
asserting  that  he  first  gained  an  idea  that  the  Bible  was  a 
book  for  children  to  know  from  The  Child's  Scripture  Question 
Book,  published  by  the  Society,  and  when  he  began  to  teach 
in  the  Sunday-school  found  "the  helps  prepared  by  the  Union 
in  advance  of  those  of  any  other  organization,  at  least  in  this 
country."  At  the  Seventy-fifth  Anniversary  of  the  Society 
under  its  present  name,  he  gave  this  weighty  testimony: 

I  speak  with  emphasis  and  earnestness  of  our  indebtedness  in 
this  country  to  the  idea  and  agency  represented  by  the  American 


184  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

Sunday-School  Union  for  most  of  what  we  have  in  our  peculiar 
civilization,  and  of  our  social,  moral,  and  religious  prosperity 
among  the  nations  of  the  earth.1 

Richard  Gay  Pardee  (1811-1869). 

Mr.  Pardee  was  prominent  among  the  sagacious  lay  work- 
ers in  the  Sunday-school  cause.  A  farmer's  boy,  with  limited 
education  in  the  common  schools,  but  carefully  trained  in 
business,  he  carried  system  into  every  form  of  Sunday-school 
work  which  he  undertook.  He  was  a  descendant  of  Elder 
Brewster  of  the  Mayflower,  and  married  Rebecca  Camp. 
The  Camps  were  a  family  noted  in  Connecticut  for  their 
benevolence  and  interest  in  the  Sunday-school  cause.  Mr. 
Pardee  was  also  a  close  friend  of  Lorin  B.  Tousley,  "the 
children's  minister,"  so  that,  aside  from  his  own,  he  had  the 
added  interest  of  these  two  families  to  increase  his  zeal  and 
devotion. 

Besides  being  a  prosperous  merchant  Mr.  Pardee  was  an 
intelligent  and  interested  grower  of  small  fruits,  a  writer  for 
The  Culturist,  and  author  of  a  widely  circulated  work  on 
strawberry  culture.  By  his  business  ability  and  'popularity 
he  soon  acquired  a  fair  competency  which  enabled  him  to 
devote  time  and  energy  to  lay  preaching  and  Sunday-school 
work.  The  same  system,  acuteness,  and  diligence  which  he 
had  shown  in  his  business  he  brought  into  religious  work. 
He  was  early  in  great  demand  in  the  organization  and  con- 
duct of  Sunday-school  conventions  and  assemblies  where 
methods  of  Bible  study  and  Christian  work  were  considered. 
His  encyclopaedic  knowledge,  gathered  from  wide  observa- 
tion, gave  him  such  prominence  that  he  was  invited  to 
take  charge  of  the  work  of  the  New  York  Sunday-School 
Union. 

The  writer  well  recalls  his  tact  and  methodical  business 
ways,  for  the  first  public  experience  in  mission  work  was 
under  his  instruction.  His  wise  management  of  that  work 
commended  itself  to  the  leading  Christians  and  churches  of 
the  city  and  gave  the  Sunday-School  Union  there  a  wide 
reputation  for  usefulness. 

His  diligent  study  of  the  problems  confronting  teachers  and 

1  Bee  article  in  The  Sunday-School  World  for  1912,  and  his  Life,  by  Philip  E. 
Howard,  1905. 


CREATING  JUVENILE  LITERATURE  185 

Bible  school  workers  of  that  day,  his  keen  discernment  of  the 
solution  of  difficult  problems,  and  the  practical  observation 
which  he  carefully  preserved  in  note-books  from  time  to  time, 
caused  him  to  be  regarded  as  one  of  the  most  sagacious  leaders 
of  his  time. 

After  ten  or  a  dozen  years  of  service  in  the  city  he  resigned 
his  position  to  enter  upon  a  wider  work  as  lecturer  on  Bible 
study  before  theological  schools  and  Sunday-school  conven- 
tions and  institutes  throughout  the  country.  For  many  years 
he  was  the  most  successful  leader  of  teachers'  training  classes 
and  institutes  for  Sunday-schools  in  his  day.  No  man  held 
an  intelligent  body  of  Sunday-school  teachers  with  closer  at- 
tention and  greater  profit  in  the  Middle  West  than  did  this 
plain,  apparently  unlearned  layman. 

Professor  John  S.  Hart,  a  competent  critic,  says  of  Mr. 
Pardee:  "He  was  neither  brilliant,  nor  learned,  nor  eloquent, 
nor  original,  nor  profound.  .  .  .  Yet  he  accomplished,  single 
handed,  results  not  often  vouched  to  those  who  have  all  these 
qualities  and  advantages  combined."  He  has  a  graphic  de- 
scription of  his  first  meeting  with  Mr.  Pardee  when,  "after 
some  pretty  tall  talking  by  sundry  speakers,  the  little,  wiry, 
unpretending  man  from  New  York  came  forward.  .  .  .  His 
appearance  certainly  was  not  commanding  nor  his  voice 
musical.  His  movements  were  stiff  and  angular;  he  had  none 
of  the  graces  of  rhetoric,  and  he  was  not  very  amenable  to  the 
laws  of  grammar,  yet  he  held  that  audience — rather  a  fas- 
tidious one — spellbound.  .  .  .  We  forgot  the  man  in  the 
absorbing  interest  of  the  thoughts  which  he  gave  us." 

Mr.  Pardee  always  had  a  pencil  and  a  note-book,  and  care- 
fully put  down  any  thought,  suggestion,  illustration,  or  fact 
which  he  thought  would  be  helpful  to  others.  In  this  way  he 
accumulated  a  mass  of  information  and,  with  a  good  memory 
and  a  systematic  mind,  he  could  call  any  part  of  it  up  at  will. 
This  wonderful  power  gave  him  readiness  of  knowledge  in  all 
his  practical  addresses. 

Mr.  Ralph  Wells  testifies  that  Mr.  Pardee  was  also  a  man 
of  prayer.  They  often  traveled  together,  and  Mr.  Wells 
states  that  "Many  a  night  I  have  known  him  to  get  out  of  bed 
and  spend  half  the  night  in  prayer — and  wonderful  prayers 
they  were."     He  was  a  frequent  contributor  to  The  Sunday- 


186  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

School   Times,  and  was   the   author   of    The  Sunday-School 
Worker's  Manual  and  The  Sabbath-School  Index. 

He  is  said  to  have  visited  every  state  in  the  Union  except 
California.  It  was  well  said  of  him  that  his  life  was  a  lesson 
to  his  generation  of  how  to  seek  out  a  sphere  where  all  one's 
power  can  be  used  to  the  best  advantage  in  the  service  of 
Christ  and  be  centered  upon  one  work. 

George  Starr  Scofield  (1810-1887). 

For  the  long  period  of  about  sixty  years  George  S.  Scofield 
served  the  Union  as  a  lad,  a  salesman,  depository  agent  in 
Philadelphia  to  1854,  and  then  in  New  York  until  his  death  in 
1887.  He  was  born  in  Stamford,  Connecticut,  June  11,  1810. 
When  a  boy,  his  father,  a  graduate  of  Yale  who  studied  law 
and  was  a  teacher  of  languages,  moved  to  Philadelphia.  His 
grandfather  was  an  officer  in  the  Revolutionary  Army  and 
for  a  time  on  Washington's  staff.  Young  Scofield  was  ambi- 
tious to  enter  college,  but  impaired  health  did  not  permit  it. 
He  entered  the  store  of  the  American  Sunday-School  Union  as 
an  errand  boy  about  1826.  The  store  was  then  at  29  North 
Fourth  Street.  He  delighted  to  tell  how  he  aided  in  moving 
the  Society's  stock  to  the  new  store  on  Chestnut  Street,  near 
Sixth,  in  a  wheelbarrow!  His  ability,  good  judgment,  in- 
dustry, and  integrity  were  appreciated  by  the  Society,  and  he 
was  steadily  advanced  from  one  position  of  trust  to  another, 
until  he  became  superintendent  of  the  home  depository  when 
comparatively  a  young  man. 

He  gave  up  his  cherished  plan  to  complete  his  college  educa- 
tion, believing  the  Lord  set  before  him  an  "open  door"  to  make 
and  distribute  Christian  literature.  His  great  aim  was  to  put 
the  best  and  purest  religious  publications  in  attractive  form 
and  so  cheap  that  the  working  classes  and  the  poor  could  be 
provided  with  them.  By  his  enthusiasm  he  persuaded  author, 
editor,  printer,  and  binder  to  aid  in  his  scheme.  He  always 
regarded  as  his  greatest  business  achievement  the  successful 
issue  and  circulation  of  "Ten  Dollar  Libraries,"  each  having  a 
hundred  volumes  of  from  seventy-two  to  two  hundred  and  fifty- 
two  pages  per  volume.  His  zeal  surmounted  almost  endless 
difficulties  then  in  the  way  of  the  scheme.  He  overcame  one 
after  another,  finding  a  special  way  for  the  binder  to  do  his 


AUTHORS 


Edith  Ferguson  Black. 


CREATING  JUVENILE  LITERATURE  187 

work,  so  as  to  furnish  the  hundred  volumes  for  ten  dollars. 
His  success  astonished  all  his  doubters  and  even  himself. 
In  a  year  40,000,000  pages  of  the  first  set  were  issued,  and  in 
less  than  twenty  years  10,000,000  volumes  of  these  remark- 
able libraries  were  distributed  to  schools  and  mission  stations 
in  America  and  throughout  the  world.  He  aided  in  manu- 
facturing the  Union  Questions,  reducing  the  price  to  six  and 
one-fourth  cents,  so  that  millions  of  copies  were  sold. 

For  years  Mr.  Scofield  devoted  his  best  thought  to  the 
making  of  other  good  cheap  literature  for  "settlers"  and 
working  classes  to  use  in  Bible  study.  Millions  of  souls  will 
have  reason  to  bless  God  for  his  efforts.  His  benevolence  was 
nation-wide.  He  was  also  active  in  his  own  Protestant 
Episcopal  Church  for  a  generation  as  an  officer  and  in  charge 
of  the  Sunday-school.  He  was  a  Christian  gentleman  of  the 
olden  type,  moving  in  social  circles  including  such  marked  men 
as  the  elder  Appleton,  Aspinwalls,  Townsends  and  others. 
Though  welcomed  in  the  social  circle  of  wealth  and  refine- 
ment, he  had  the  warmest  sympathy  for  those  in  humbler 
walks  of  life,  and  was  ever  planning  to  reach  them  with  the 
gospel  of  Christ.  Few  men  have  contributed  so  largely  as 
he  to  the  manufacture  and  distribution  of  religious  literature 
for  the  young. 

John  W.  Dulles. 

Rev.  John  Welsh  Dulles,  D.D.,  son  of  Joseph  H.  Dulles, 
was  a  missionary  of  the  American  Board  in  Southern  India, 
but  was  compelled  by  illness  and  loss  of  voice  to  relinquish 
that  service.  On  the  recovery  of  his  health  in  October, 
1853,  he  was  placed  in  charge  of  the  missionary  correspond- 
ence of  the  American  Sunday-School  Union,  and  served  the 
Society  efficiently  for  three  years,  until  October,  1856,  when 
he  resigned  to  become  editorial  secretary  of  the  Presbyterian 
Publication  Committee  (new  school). 

He  was  modest  and  retiring  in  disposition,  a  man  of  polished 
and  pleasant  address,  and  an  indefatigable  worker.  He  pre- 
pared the  interesting  work,  Life  in  India,  for  the  Society, 
which  had  a  wide  circulation,  running  through  several  edi- 
tions. 


SECTION  VI 

MISSIONARY   AND   EXTENSION   WORK 

An  era  of  great  civic  and  religious  ferment  preceded  the 
origin  of  the  Sunday-School  Union,  1817  to  1824.  People  in 
all  parts  of  Christendom  were  awakening  to  their  privileges 
in  religion,  and  demanding  their  rights  in  the  governments  of 
which  they  were  a  part  and  which  they  supported.  The 
American  republic  was  a  government  by  the  people.  The 
French  demanded  a  similar  form  of  government,  and  the 
Greeks  caught  the  inspiration  and  revived  their  ancient 
republican  system.  The  new  countries  of  South  America 
were  absorbing  republican  ideas  and,  in  the  world  of  religion, 
revivals  of  a  national  character  were  changing  society  under 
the  preaching  of  the  Wesleys,  Whitfield,  and*  Edwards. 
Modern  missionary  and  Bible  societies  were  organized. 
Christianity  was  manifesting  itself  in  new  and  aggressive 
measures  for  the  conquest  of  the  world.  Laymen  were 
awaking  to  leadership. 

Laymen  Recognized. — The  founders  of  the  Sunday-School 
Union  were  doubtless  influenced  by  a  knowledge  of  these 
movements  and  caught  a  vision  of  the  splendid  service  which 
might  be  rendered  through  the  wider  diffusion  and  study  of 
the  great  Christian  textbook — the  Bible.  They  had,  how- 
ever, a  discriminating  sense  of  the  conditions  of  their  time, 
which  is  clearly  expressed  in  the  first  part  of  the  constitution. 

Note  the  way  in  which  the  objects  of  the  Society  are  stated: 

(1)  To  secure  unity  of  effort,  federation  and  co-operation  of 
all  friends  of  religious  instruction  in  all  sections  of  the  country; 

(2)  to  give  information  by  circulating  ''moral  and  religious 
publications  in  every  part  of  the  land,"  and,  having  secured 
these;  (3)  "to  endeavor  to  plant  a  Sunday-school  wherever 
there  is  a  population." 

Their  records  show  that  they  proceeded  in  this  order  to 
accomplish  their  great  purpose,  putting  first  things  first;  that 
188 


MISSIONARY  AND  EXTENSION  WORK        189 

is,  unity,  then  information  and  instruction,  then  organized 
extension  of  the  institution  of  Sunday-schools.  It  would  have 
been  impossible  for  them  to  have  reversed  this  order  with  suc- 
cess. They  must  first  prepare  the  way  and  prosecute  a  cam- 
paign of  education.  Only  so  could  they  overcome  opposition 
and  prejudice  and  win  general  favor  for  the  great  work  they 
had  in  view.  Moreover,  the  popular  impression  in  regard  to 
the  institution  of  Sunday-schools  then  was  that  the  work  should 
be  voluntary.  If  teachers  gave  their  services,  why  should  not 
managers  and  superintendents  and  others  give  their  services 
also?  It  was  thought  that  this  voluntary  principle  could  be 
applied  successfully  to  the  establishment  of  Sunday-schools  in 
places  where  there  were  none,  and  no  desire  for  them.  This 
view  overlooked  the  fact  that  into  every  such  community 
someone  must  go  to  prepare  the  way  by  informing  the  people 
concerning  the  value  of  the  institution,  and  to  create  some  taste 
for  it  by  showing  how  it  would  benefit  each  family  and  give 
religious  education  to  the  young. 

Work  by  Auxiliaries. — Some  conceived  that  this  might  be 
done  by  multiplying  local  auxiliary  unions  in  every  habitable 
section,  and  by  disseminating  circulars  and  pamphlets  telling 
of  the  advantages  of  Sunday-schools,  how  to  form  them  as 
well  as  how  to  conduct  them,  and  the  good  results  which  had 
followed  from  their  successful  maintenance  in  other  places. 
This  preparatory  work  and  these  educational  campaigns  were 
exceedingly  useful  so  far  as  they  went,  but  so  indifferent — not 
to  say  hostile — is  the  human  mind  naturally  to  the  things  of 
God  that  these  agencies,  however  useful  in  their  sphere,  were 
found  to  be  insufficient  successfully  to  spread  the  institution  in 
new  communities,  and  often  unavailable  even  in  the  corners  of 
parishes  where  churches  existed. 

Because  of  the  need  of  this  preparatory  work  and  the  lack 
of  funds,  the  Union  tried  various  experiments  to  supplement 
their  efforts  for  extension  of  Sunday-schools.  Thus  in  1819 
they  joined  with  the  Bible  Society  in  providing  a  traveling 
agent  (Samuel  Bacon)  who  should  explain  their  plan  and  pur- 
pose, while  at  the  same  time  he  distributed  circulars  and 
literature  and  urged  local  auxiliaries  to  make  vigorous  efforts 
to  plant  new  Sunday-schools  wherever  they  were  needed. 
This  was  followed,  as  already  stated,  by  the  appointment  of 


190  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

Rev.  William  C.  Blair  as  a  Sunday-school  missionary  in  1821. 
He  gave  his  entire  time  to  the  special  work  of  organizing  and 
strengthening  Sunday-schools  in  various  states,  in  which  work 
he  was  soon  after  joined  by  President  Alden  of  Allegheny  Col- 
lege and  others  and,  as  the  work  grew,  the  Board  of  Managers 
of  the  Union  placed  it  under  the  charge  of  a  Committee  on 
Missions. 

It  therefore  seems  wise  to  present  the  history  of  the  work  in 
the  order  in  which  the  founders  planned  and  carried  forward 
the  magnificent  enterprise  which  they  had  in  mind. 

Specialized  Service. — While  the  managers  of  the  Union  were 
clear  in  their  purpose  to  do  first  things  first,  they  also  speedily 
saw  the  complex  ways  of  working  required  to  make  their  plan 
successful.  It  was  not  yet  the  age  of  specialization  as  we  see 
it.  But,  with  a  vision  in  advance  of  their  age,  they  assigned 
branches  of  their  work  to  special  persons  among  themselves, 
designated  as  committees;  having  not  less  than  seven  such 
groups — the  most  important  being  the  Committees  of  Publica- 
tion, of  Depositories,  of  Ways  and  Means,  and  of  ^Missions. 
The  Committee  of  Missions  was  instructed  to  communicate 
with  clergymen  and  laymen  of  all  denominations  and  in  differ- 
ent parts  of  the  country,  awaken  a  higher  sense  of  the  impor- 
tance of  Sunday-schools,  and  stimulate  them  to  vigorous  exer- 
tions for  promoting  the  institution.  They  were  to  seek  out 
and  appoint  persons  well  qualified  to  be  Sunday-school  mis- 
sionaries who  should  visit  and  establish  Sunday-schools  and 
organize  Sunday-school  unions.  These  missionaries  were  not 
to  roam  wildly  over  the  country,  but  were  to  be  assigned 
fields  of  labor  and  be  instructed  in  their  duties.  Concerning 
this  service  the  Committee  was  to  report  every  month  the 
number  of  missionaries  appointed,  their  names,  field  of  labor, 
and  the  whole  number  employed,  with  such  other  informa- 
tion as  the  managers  might  require.1 

Beholding  the  wide-spread  enthusiasm  in  Sunday-school 
work  today,  we  can  hardly  credit  the  apathy,  indifference  and 
even  opposition  to  the  cause  in  the  first  part  of  the  nineteenth 
century.  Large-hearted  and  prominent  Christians  warmly 
advocated  the  movement,  but  they  were  in  the  minority. 
The  bulk  of  even  professing  Christians  looked  upon  it  either 

«  By-Laws,  1825  to  1828. 


MISSIONARY  AND  EXTENSION  WORK        191 

as  a  marked  innovation  or  as  springing  out  of  a  religious  en- 
thusiasm fraught  with  dangerous  tendencies.  So  they  stood 
aloof,  deeming  it  prudent  to  watch  lest  this  new  movement 
should  overturn  or  in  some  manner  harm  the  ark  of  the 
Lord.  Strong,  bold  measures  were  required  to  overcome  this 
general  apathy. 

Again,  the  general  adoption  of  voluntary  instead  of  paid 
teachers  in  Sunday-schools  suggested,  naturally  enough,  that 
the  extension  of  these  schools  might  be  carried  forward  by 
like  voluntary  means.  The  employment  of  Sunday-school 
missionaries,  giving  their  entire  time  as  specialists  to  this 
work,  did  not  meet  with  popular  favor,  and  funds  were  hard 
to  secure  for  their  support. 

Thus  the  proceedings  of  the  early  anniversaries  of  the 
Society  and  the  speeches  show  that  the  Society  tried  to  pro- 
mote extension  of  Sunday-schools  largely  through  the  dis- 
tribution of  its  literature  through  auxiliaries  and  by  volun- 
tary workers.  In  previous  sections  of  the  history  the  various 
kinds  of  literature  and  the  diligence  of  the  Society  in  distribut- 
ing it  have  been  pointed  out.  To  give  this  literature  greater 
effect  the  Society  encouraged  the  formation  of  conventions 
and  unions  organized  in  different  states.  It  enlisted  some  of 
the  foremost  persons  in  different  denominations  in  presenting 
the  importance  and  value  of  such  auxiliary  institutions,  and  of 
giving  information  upon  the  best  way  of  organizing  and  con- 
ducting them  in  the  work  of  extending  the  Sunday-school. 
Thus,  as  before  stated,  the  Rev.  Gardiner  Spring,  D.D.,  of 
New  York  attended  a  convention  of  Sunday-school  teachers 
and  workers  in  the  state  of  New  Hampshire  in  September, 
1824,  which  resulted  in  forming  the  first  recorded  state 
Sunday-school  union  in  America.  Dr.  Lyman  Beecher,  D.D., 
of  Boston  also  was  a  voluntary  delegate  to  another  section  of 
New  England.  And  Dr.  E.  D.  Griffin,  president  of  Williams 
College;  Dr.  Francis  Wayland,  president  of  Brown  University; 
Theodore  Frelinghuysen  of  New  Jersey;  Dr.  Archibald  Alex- 
ander; Dr.  John  H.  Rice  of  Virginia;  Dr.  Stephen  H.  Tyng; 
Thomas  S.  Grimke  of  South  Carolina,  and  many  others  of 
national  reputation  and  of  different  denominations  responded 
to  the  call  of  the  Society  and  rendered  splendid  service  in  giv- 
ing its  plan  and  work  wide  publicity.     Besides  these  eminent 


192  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

volunteer  advocates  the  Society  employed  for  temporary  pe- 
riods, and  at  different  times,  young  but  trained  educators  to 
do  a  similar  service  in  different  parts  of  the  country. 

General  Agents. — These  general  agents  also  gave  a  portion 
of  their  time  to  the  direct  missionary  work  of  organizing 
Sunday-schools  in  towns  and  villages  where  they  had  not  yet 
been  introduced.  They  were  also  required  to  form  auxiliary 
unions,  to  collect  funds  for  promoting  the  general  cause,  and  in 
every  way — through  distribution  of  circulars  and  literature  as 
well  as  by  public  addresses — to  give  information  and  to  stimu- 
late activity  in  all  forms  of  Sunday-school  work.  They  were 
especially  to  point  out  the  feasibility  and  the  advantage  of 
co-operation  and  concentration  of  interest  and  energy,  and  to 
group  together  those  of  different  denominations  for  the  com- 
mon end  of  making  more  widely  known  the  fundamental 
principles  of  our  common  Christianity.  This  could  best  be 
done  by  organizing  Sunday  services  and  Bible  schools  for  the 
study  of  the  Word  of  God.  In  this  service  were  enlisted  those 
who  later  were  known  as  veterans  in  the  work,  as  A.  W.  Corey, 
Rev.  Howard  Malcolm,  D.D.,  Rev.  George  Foyd,  Rev. 
Robert  Baird,  D.D.,  and  a  host  of  others  too  numerous  to 
name.  They  gave  their  best  thought  and  ability  to  the 
solution  of  the  great  problems  of  religious  education  and  to 
creating  an  interest  therein,  and  winning  popular  favor  for 
the  movement. 

Voluntary  Effort  Insufficient. — However,  a  comparatively 
brief  experience  was  sufficient  to  convince  not  only  the  Society 
but  its  supporters  that  Sunday-schools  could  not  be  efficiently 
organized  and  sustained  where  most  needed  merely  by  aux- 
iliary unions  and  volunteer  efforts.  A  more  vigorous  and 
trained  agency  was  needed  effectively  to  organize  schools  and 
even  to  distribute  its  literature.  Therefore,  in  1825  a  per- 
manent Committee  on  Missions  was  formed,  which  employed 
for  short  terms  thirty-one  missionaries  as  supplementary  to 
its  other  methods  of  Sunday-school  extension.  But  the 
Society  was  compelled  to  state  its  reasons  for  the  employ- 
ment of  paid  missionaries  by  affirming  that  they  were  required 
"by  the  necessity  for  arousing  Christians/ '  "by  the  ignorance 
of  your  plans  which  too  widely  prevails,  and  by  the  need  of 
reviving  some  schools  now  languishing,"  declaring  that  mis- 


MISSIONARY  AND  EXTENSION  WORK        193 

sionaries  "seem  well-nigh  indispensable,  whether  we  consider 
the  prosperity  of  schools  now  existing,  or  the  necessity  of  their 
further  extension." 

Hence  literature,  depositories,  auxiliaries,  paid  missionaries 
and  volunteer  workers  were  all  combined  in  the  effort  of  the 
Society  to  extend  the  Sunday-school  movement.  Thus  in 
1827-28,  thirty-five  missionaries  from  eight  denominations  were 
employed,  including  four  volunteers  without  pay.  More- 
over, a  general  agent  and  twelve  other  agents  were  also  en- 
gaged in  upward  of  sixteen  different  states,  stimulating  auxilia- 
ries, collecting  funds,  awakening  an  interest  in  the  cause,  and 
introducing  the  Select  or  Uniform  System  of  Instruction  and 
improved  methods  of  conducting  Sunday-schools. 

Public  Meetings. — The  funds  to  support  these  agents  and 
missionaries  were  secured  with  difficulty,  and  usually  the  con- 
tributions were  inadequate.  The  dues  from  auxiliaries  and 
from  life  and  annual  members  were  appropriated  to  the  mis- 
sionary fund,  in  addition  to  the  direct  gifts  for  that  purpose, 
and  still  there  was  a  yearly  deficit.  Appeals  were  made  to 
churches  and  Sunday-schools  and  to  individuals  to  support 
this  laudable  enterprise.  The  necessity  for  larger  support  of 
its  benevolent  work  was  made  the  theme  of  successive  anni- 
versaries held  in  May.  The  meetings  of  these  May  anni- 
versaries brought  together  large  audiences.  Thus  in  May, 
1826,  it  is  reported:  "Every  arrangement  was  made  for  the 
accommodation  of  the  audience  which  the  spacious  house 
could  afford,  but  many  hundreds  who  came  to  the  doors  were 
unable  to  obtain  seats.1  A  similar  throng  attended  the  anni- 
versary of  1827,  when  an  original  hymn  written  by  W.  B. 
Tappan  for  the  occasion  was  sung,  "with  much  spirit  and 
effect  by  the  children  who  thronged  the  galleries." 

Delegated  Conferences. — During  the  anniversaries  delegates 
also  appeared  from  auxiliary  societies  in  different  states,  repre- 
senting their  respective  unions,  and  often  met  with  the  man- 
agers to  consider  questions  and  measures  of  a  national  interest 
and  to  propose  plans  for  promoting  the  cause  throughout 
the  country.  Although  benevolent  contributions  were  slowly 
increasing  from  year  to  year,  yet  they  were  found  wholly  in- 
sufficient.    While  the  Christian  citizens  of  Philadelphia  had 

»  Report,  1826,  p.  xxii. 


194  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

loyally  supported  and  royally  given  to  purchase  a  lot  and 
provide  a  building  that  should  be  suitable  headquarters  for 
the  business  of  the  Society,  the  very  success  of  the  institution 
had  aroused  the  envy  and  opposition  of  others  who  assailed  it 
"under  a  feigned  regard  for  religious  liberty."  The  objects  of 
the  Society  became  a  "favorite  subject  of  untiring  misrepre- 
sentation and  abuse."  "Charges  the  most  absurd  and  in- 
congruous," said  the  managers,  "have  been  alleged;  the  belief 
of  which  would  suppose  a  degree  of  credulity  little  flattering  to 
that  public  on  whom  they  have  designed  to  impose."1 

Over  against  these  misrepresentations  the  managers  af- 
firmed their  object  was  "to  extend  to  every  town  and  hamlet 
of  our  extensive  country,  the  blessings  of  early  instruction  in 
virtue  and  knowledge — to  circulate  as  widely  as  possible  a 
class  of  publications  designed  to  illustrate  by  example  and 
to  enforce  by  precept  those  plain  and  simple  gospel  truths 
which  are  peculiar  to  no  sect,  but  of  vital  importance  to 
all."2 

Partly  in  consequence  of  this  opposition  the  Union  found 
itself  embarrassed  in  its  benevolent  work,  and  in  May,  1828, 
there  were  two  meetings  of  delegates;  one  with  the  managers, 
and  another  held  by  the  delegates,  specially  to  confer  upon 
the  state  of  the  Union,  and  devise  increased  means  of  promot- 
ing its  interests.  At  this  meeting  there  were  delegates  pres- 
ent from  fourteen  states.  It  was  presided  over  by  Robert 
Cathcart  of  York,  Pennsylvania,  and  Elias  W.  Crane  of 
Jamaica,  Long  Island,  was  secretary.  These  delegates  made 
a  minute  and  careful  investigation  of  the  affairs  of  the  Society, 
and,  after  due  deliberation,  expressed  deep  regret  that  it 
should  be  embarrassed  for  want  of  funds;  recommended 
measures  for  its  relief,  and  called  upon  Christian  communities 
to  enable  it  greatly  to  enlarge  its  operations  "by  the  publica- 
tion of  suitable  books  for  the  Sunday-schools  of  our  country; 
to  establish  more  extensively  Sabbath-schools  among  our 
German  population,  and  to  commence  the  translation  of  their 
publications  into  the  German  language;  to  establish  Sabbath- 
schools  among  our  seamen  and  other  classes  of  people,  who  are 
not  yet  brought  under  the  influence  of  the  Sabbath-school 
system;  and  to  employ  an  increased  number  of  energetic 

>  Report,  1828,  p.  x.  »  Report,  1826,  p.  xi. 


MISSIONARY  AND  EXTENSION  WORK        195 

agents,""with  a  view  to  raise  the  necessary  funds,  and  accom- 
plish these  measures."1 

Referring  to  the  opposition  to  the  Society's  application  for 
a  charter,  this  delegated  assembly  declared:  " After  having 
possessed  and  employed  the  most  ample  means  of  investigat- 
ing the  proceedings  of  the  American  Sunday-School  Union, 
this  meeting  does  cordially  and  unanimously  approve  of  the 
open  and  undisguised  manner  in  which  its  affairs  have  been 
conducted  and  hereby  express  their  high  commendation  of 
the  zeal,  discretion,  self-denial  and  diligence  of  its  Board  of 
Managers."2 

At  a  subsequent  meeting  of  the  delegates  it  was  stated  that 
the  Society  began  under  its  present  name  with  a  capital  con- 
tributed by  the  citizens  of  Philadelphia  of  less  than  $5,000. 
At  the  close  of  1827  the  capital  was  about  $25,000,  exclusive  of 
the  buildings.  Of  this  sum,  $20,000  had  been  contributed  by 
the  citizens  of  Philadelphia,  besides  $15,000  for  the  Society's 
buildings.  Loans  had  been  secured  to  the  amount  of  $35,000, 
while  there  was  due  from  auxiliary  societies  and  individuals, 
for  literature  about  $20,000. 

At  this  meeting  in  Philadelphia  new  subscriptions  were 
received  amounting  to  $4,760 — a  sum  sufficient  to  encourage 
the  Society  to  enlarge  its  operations  and  to  consider  new 
measures  for  the  advancement  of  the  cause  throughout  the 
nation. 

Mississippi  Valley  Enterprise. — Out  of  the  Union's  expe- 
rience and  the  information  it  had  gathered  during  several 
years  under  the  auxiliary  and  general  agency  system,  and  the 
earlier  seven  years'  experience  as  the  Sunday  and  Adult 
School  Union,  a  wide  interest  was  created  for  extending 
Sunday-schools  over  the  whole  United  States.  Several  per- 
sons of  ability  and  large  experience  were  employed  to  gather 
and  report  information  respecting  the  "western  country," 
and  particularly  from  the  Valley  of  the  Mississippi,  upon  the 
need  of  more  vigorous  and  liberal  measures  for  the  establish- 
ment of  Sunday-schools.  As  a  result  of  this  survey  the  man- 
agers of  the  Union  were  convinced  that  the  Christian  public 
was  ready  to  sustain  them  in  a  movement  the  magnitude  of 
which  would  have  appalled  less  courageous  souls.     In  Novem- 

1  Report,  1828,  p.  xviii.  *  Ibid.,  p.  xix. 


196  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

ber,  1829,  they  decided  it  was  the  duty  of  the  American 
Sunday-School  Union,  if  funds  were  furnished  for  the  purpose, 
to  establish  Sunday-schools  in  all  parts  of  the  United  States, 
* 'especially  in  the  destitute  regions  of  the  West." 

This  action  became  known  to  philanthropists  and  business 
men  in  different  parts  of  the  country.  It  brought  encourag- 
ing responses  from  various  quarters,  among  them  a  proposi- 
tion from  a  prominent  business  man  of  New  York,  Mr.  Arthur 
Tappan.  Writing  early  in  May,  1830,  he  proposed  that  the 
Society  undertake  to  form  a  Sabbath-school  within  two  years 
in  every  town  in  the  Valley  of  the  Mississippi.  "The  adoption 
of  such  a  resolution  as  I  have  stated,"  writes  he,  "would  thrill 
through  the  Christian  community  and  secure  you  the  prayers 
and  offerings  of  every  Christian  and  philanthropist  in  the 
land."  He  estimated  that  it  might  require  $100,000  to  carry 
out  his  plan,  and  pledged  himself  to  give  $2,000  and  also  a 
similar  sum  of  $2,000,  "to  be  paid  in  sums  of  five  dollars,  to 
Sabbath-schools  in  the  Valley  that  shall  raise  the  same  amount 
and  remit  it  to  the  treasurer;  the  ten  dollars  to  be.  laid  out  in 
books  for  a  library." 

This  letter  resulted  in  a  tentative  action  of  the  Union  to  un- 
dertake the  work  proposed,  provided  it  should  be  approved  at 
the  coming  anniversary  of  the  Society  in  May.  Meanwhile  the 
boldness  and  magnitude  of  the  proposition  amazed  the  public 
and  won  friends  in  its  support.  Such  was  the  interest  excited 
that  at  the  anniversary,  which  was  attended  by  over  2,000 
people,  this  action  was  adopted  by  a  unanimous  rising  vote  of 
the  whole  congregation: 

Resolved  that  the  American  Sunday-School  Union,  in  reliance 
upon  divine  aid,  will,  within  two  years,  establish  a  Sunday-school 
in  every  destitute  place  where  it  is  practicable  throughout  the 
Valley  of  the  Mississippi. 

Among  the  able  advocates  for  it  were  the  Rev.  Thomas 
McAuley,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  the  Rev.  Lyman  Beecher,  D.D.,  of 
Massachusetts,  and  the  Rev.  Stephen  H.  Tyng,  D.D. — lead- 
ing members  of  three  different  denominations.  They  re- 
garded it  as  more  important  in  its  consequences  than  any  pre- 
vious act  of  the  Union. 

It  was  a  "stupendous  missionary  enterprise,"  for  a  strong 


MISSIONARY  AND  EXTENSION  WORK       197 

society,  and  seemed  presumptuous  for  the  young  Union,  whose 
yearly  mission  funds  were  less  than  §1,000,  to  propose  to 
cover  a  territory  now  occupied  by  over  twenty  states.  The 
"Valley  of  the  Mississippi"  meant  "all  the  country  west  of 
the  Alleghenies  to  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  from  Michigan 
to  Louisiana — an  area  then  estimated  at  about  1,300,000 
square  miles — and  included  the  nine  states  of  Ohio,  Indiana, 
Illinois,  Kentucky,  Tennessee,  Alabama,  Louisiana,  Missis- 
sippi, and  Missouri,  and  also  parts  of  Pennsylvania  and 
Virginia,  and  the  'Northwest  territory'  and  the  Territories  of 
Missouri  and  of  Arkansas'."  The  population  was  estimated 
at  4,000,000,  of  which  400,000  were  believed  to  be  children 
and  youth.  This  immense  section  of  the  country  was  rap- 
idly filling  through  immigration.  So  vast  was  this  region 
that  it  was  then  predicted,  "The  population  (in  this  valley) 
will  soon  give  laws  to  our  country." 

The  immense  enthusiasm  for  this  scheme  did  not  "turn 
the  heads"  of  the  managers.  They  did  not  permit  their  zeal 
or  enthusiasm  to  outrun  their  judgment,  nor  did  it  lead  them 
to  expend  their  energies  in  impulsive  efforts.  From  a  survey 
of  the  entire  territory,  they  computed  the  number  of  Sunday- 
schools  of  every  description  in  it  at  about  1,500,  including 
those  that  were  supported  by  Methodists,  Baptists,  and  other 
denominations  independent  of  those  in  connection  with  the 
Union. 

They  did  not  propose  to  establish  a  Sunday-school  wherever 
there  was  none,  but  only  in  those  destitute  places  where  cir- 
cumstances would  make  it  practicable  to  do  so.  They  stated, 
for  example,  that  "if  there  is  a  place  inhabited  by  six  families, 
living  three  or  four  miles  from  each  other  and  in  different 
directions,  and  neither  family  having  children  over  six  years 
old,  we  should  think  the  impracticability  of  establishing  a 
Sunday-school  there  abundantly  obvious."  Then,  too,  it  was 
stated  that  in  some  cases  where  no  teacher  could  be  found,  no 
place  of  meeting  obtained,  and  each  family,  distinct  from  the 
other  five,  having  prejudices  in  favor  of  a  different  denomina- 
tion from  the  others,  what  would  be  impracticable  would  be- 
come, under  such  circumstances,  next  to  impossible.  But  in 
places  where  the  number  of  the  inhabitants  and  their  rela- 
tive location  and  circumstances  rendered  it  practicable  to  a 


198  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

discreet  and  sensible  person,  there  it  was  proposed  to  establish 
a  Sunday-school.  It  was  computed  that  not  less  than  $30,000 
would  be  required  the  first  year  to  start  the  enterprise,  and,  if 
measurably  successful,  $60,000  or  upward  for  the  second  year.1 

The  enthusiasm  of  the  congregation  of  2,000  in  Philadelphia 
when  the  scheme  was  proposed  became  contagious.  It  spread 
through  the  city  and  won  the  admiration  of  the  delegates  from 
auxiliary  societies  of  different  denominations  who  were  attend- 
ing the  National  Religious  Assemblies.  Three  successive 
mass  meetings  were  held  in  Philadelphia.  Men  of  national 
fame  commended  the  action,  and  liberal  subscriptions  were 
received  amounting  to  $17,000,  besides  an  offer  to  form  "one 
hundred  and  fifty  schools,' '  and  further  "to  supply  thirty-two 
counties"  with  schools,  estimated  to  call  for  about  $5,000  in 
addition  to  cash  subscriptions.  Similar  meetings  were  held 
in  New  York,  where  hundreds  who  came  could  not  get  admis- 
sion to  the  building.  Vigorous  speeches  were  made  and 
$15,229  more  pledged.  The  enthusiasm  extended  to  Boston, 
Washington,  Charleston,  and  other  cities  where  like  meetings 
were  crowded  with  people  who  desired  to  learn  more  of  the 
character  and  magnitude  of  this  enterprise. 

In  Boston  a  forcible  address  was  made  by  Dr.  Lyman 
Beecher,  who  believed  that  "the  crisis  of  the  nation  and  of  the 
world  is  at  hand;  the  heart  of  the  rising  generation  of  the 
West  will  throb  with  benevolence  or  beat  with  iniquity  and 
death."2 

Another  speaker  declared  that  the  freedom,  righteousness 
and  peace  of  the  country  would  depend  largely  upon  the  char- 
acter of  the  future  people  in  the  Mississippi  Valley. 

A  National  Meeting. — The  meeting  in  Washington  was  even 
more  remarkable  for  its  national  character.  It  was  presided 
over  by  a  United  States  senator,  and  the  clerk  of  the  House  of 
Representatives  acted  as  secretary.  Among  those  who  ad- 
dressed the  meeting  in  behalf  of  the  enterprise  were  seven 
senators  and  congressmen,  including  Daniel  Webster  and 
Francis  Scott  Key.  The  magnitude  of  the  Valley  proposition 
appealed  to  their  patriotism,  and  it  was  commended  in  the 
strongest  terms  as  best  adapted  to  put  the  stamp  of  a  Chris- 

i  Sunday-School  Magazine,  1830,  p.  222. 
2  See  Report,  Proceedings  in  Boston,  p.  20. 


MISSIONARY  AND  EXTENSION  WORK       199 

tian  civilization  upon  the  West  and  to  promote  the  stability  of 
the  republic.  The  meeting  was  reported  in  the  press  of  that 
period  as  "one  of  the  most  important  ever  held  in  this 
country." 

The  Hon.  William  Wirt,  then  Attorney  General  of  the  United 
States,  sent  a  liberal  donation  and  a  letter  regretting  his  in- 
ability to  be  present  to  aid  in  advancing  this  "great,  Heaven- 
directed  cause."  He  declared:  "It  is  not  in  the  nature  of 
things  that  a  popular  government  can  long  subsist  except 
among  an  enlightened  and  virtuous  people.  Public  virtue 
has  no  solid  basis  but  in  religion.  I  mean  by  public  virtue," 
he  added,  "that  which  impels  the  man  in  all  his  public  acts  to 
look  solely  to  the  good  of  his  country  without  any  view  of 
personal  aggrandizement."  In  a  note  of  warning  he  declared, 
"Private  vice  always  keeps  pace  with  public  immorality.  .  .  . 
One  distinguished  man  is  able  to  corrupt  the  neighborhood  by 
his  example  and  machinations;  and  the  sphere  of  his  pernicious 
influence  becomes  enlarged,  in  proportion  to  the  eminence  to 
which  he  has  risen.  .  .  .  Mere  human  virtue  is  a  cheat — a 
scintillation  at  best,  which  we  see  continually  extinguished  by 
temptation.  .  .  .  Nothing  less  than  the  living  conviction  of 
an  ever-present  God,  before  whom  we  are  acting  and  thinking 
and  speaking,  .  .  .  can  impose  a  moment's  restraint  on  the 
indulgence  of  human  passion." 

Senator  Freylinghuysen,  in  a  statesmanlike  address,  said, 
among  other  things,  "Let  us  ponder  with  deep  reflection,  and 
cease  not  to  repeat  and  reiterate  the  interesting  truth,  that  our 
boasted  liberties  will  not  long  survive  the  wreck  of  our  public 
morals." 

The  Hon.  Daniel  Webster,  senator  of  the  United  States,  gave 
the  significant  testimony,  that  if  we  were  sure  of  any  thing,  we 
were  sure  of  this,  that  the  knowledge  of  their  Creator,  their 
duty  and  their  destiny  is  good  to  men;  and  that,  whatever, 
therefore,  draws  the  attention  of  the  young  to  the  considera- 
tion of  these  objects,  and  enables  them  to  feel  their  importance, 
must  be  advantageous  to  human  happiness  in  the  highest  de- 
gree and  in  all  worlds.  In  civilized  times,  and  in  a  Christian 
land  the  means  of  this  knowledge  were  to  be  supplied  to  the 
young  by  parental  care,  by  public  provision,  or  by  Christian 
benevolence.     They  were  now  assembled  to  supply,  or  aid  in 


200  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

supplying  the  elements  of  knowledge,  religious,  moral  and 
literary,  to  the  children  throughout  a  most  interesting  and  im- 
portant portion  of  the  country. 

Laymen's  Mission. — Among  other  similar  enthusiastic  meet- 
ings in  promotion  of  this  measure  to  establish  Sunday-schools 
in  the  Mississippi  Valley,  was  a  large  meeting  of  the  citizens 
of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  Thomas  S.  Grimke,  who 
was  then  widely  known  as  an  "eloquent  and  distinguished  ad- 
vocate of  Christian  education,"  made  the  principal  address,  in 
which,  among  other  things,  he  declared:  "An  intelligent  laity 
is  the  only  pure,  natural,  living  fountain  of  an  intelligent 
clergy.  Neither  can  exist  durably,  usefully,  or  honorably 
without  the  other.  They  must  arise  and  advance,  hand  in 
hand  and  step  by  step.'7  He  asked  why  a  great  majority  of 
statesmen,  writers,  philosophers,  and  scholars  of  Europe  had 
done  so  little  for  religion,  and  declared  that  it  was  due  to  the 
fact  that  the  Bible  had  never  entered  into  their  scheme  of  mental 
culture.  But  he  noted  that  the  Bible  commanded  the  atten- 
tion of  giant  minds  like  Bacon,  Newton  and  Locke:  as  well  as 
the  more  ordinary  minds  of  Addison,  Lyttleton  and  West. 
Referring  to  the  establishment  of  Sunday-schools  in  the 
Valley  of  the  Mississippi,  he  exclaimed:  "What  eloquence 
can  magnify  too  much  the  dignity  and  importance  of  the  enter- 
prise! What  poetry  can  paint,  in  adequate  colors,  a  charity 
so  enlightened,  pure  and  beautiful!"1 

Mission  Plans  and  Results. — The  region  known  as  the  Mis- 
sissippi Valley  was  divided  into  districts  and  into  fields  by  the 
Society,  and  agents  and  missionaries  were  assigned  to  these 
several  sections  where  immigration  was  forming  the  greatest 
number  of  new  settlements.  As  indicating  the  growth  of  the 
population,  the  state  census  of  Illinois  in  1825  was  about 
75,000;  by  1830  it  had  added  86,000— showing  that  it  had 
more  than  doubled  in  the  five  years. 

In  a  short  time,  from  $60,000  to  $75,000  were  actually  con- 
tributed and  expended  in  this  unparalleled  scheme  of  Sunday- 
school  extension;  and  it  was  computed  that  over  one-half  of 
the  8,000  to  10,000  new  settlements  in  that  great  valley  were 
supplied  with  new  Sunday-schools.  Marvelous  as  this  work 
was  for  that  day,  it  did  not  proceed  as  rapidly  as  its  friends  had 

1  Grimke' s  Address,  pp.  3,  8,  10. 


MISSIONARY  AND  EXTENSION  WORK       201 

hoped.  This  was  due  to  various  obstacles  and  the  difficulty 
of  organizing  schools  in  sparsely  settled  districts  and  with  a 
heterogeneous  population.  About  eighty  to  one  hundred 
missionaries  were  employed  in  the  service  and  a  library  cost- 
ing ten  dollars  or  more  was  furnished  to  every  school  that 
raised  five  dollars  or  more  itself,  or  through  its  friends,  for  this 
purpose.  Thus,  besides  forming  the  new  Sunday-schools,  it 
was  computed  that  about  1,000,000  volumes  were  put  in  cir- 
culation through  libraries  in  these  various  districts. 

Moreover,  the  reformatory  and  spiritual  results  of  the  enter- 
prise were  wonderfully  fruitful.  It  had  not  been  long  in 
progress  before  the  Society  reported  20,000  teachers  and 
30,000  scholars  in  its  Sunday-schools  that  had  confessed  their 
faith  in  Christ.  The  number  in  a  single  year  was  reported  to 
be  over  17,000.  When  it  is  recalled  that  this  work  was  done 
while  the  foundations  of  society  were  being  laid  in  these  large 
communities  of  the  Middle  West,  the  educational  value  of 
such  service  in  thousands  of  neighborhoods  cannot  be  easily 
estimated. 

Observing  citizens  in  those  times  were  ready  to  acknowledge 
the  great  contribution  which  the  American  Sunday-School 
Union  made  to  general  education  and  to  the  splendid  system 
of  public  schools  which  now  exist  in  the  states  of  the  great 
Middle  West.  The  distribution  of  its  literature  which  created 
a  taste  for  good  reading  and  increased  the  desire  for  an  educa- 
tion in  the  young,  adding  students  to  schools  and  colleges,  was 
noted  by  leading  educators  and  journals.  It  increased  Chris- 
tian patriotism  throughout  the  whole  valley.  The  enthusiasm 
thus  aroused  in  behalf  of  good  reading  and  of  education  is  be- 
lieved to  have  stimulated  legislatures  in  those  great  states  to 
make  early  and  munificent  provision  for  free  public  instruc- 
tion, and  to  give  public  schools  better  equipment  and  support 
in  their  respective  commonwealths  than  anywhere  else  in  the 
country. 

Possibly  this  influence  may  have  been  slightly  overestimated 
by  some,  yet  none  can  know  at  this  period  how  wide-reaching 
this  service  was  in  prompting  the  pioneer  statesmen  of  this 
great  valley  to  make  splendid  provision  for  free  public  schools 
in  those  twenty  or  more  states  now  occupying  that  valley. 
It  was  a  wise,  patriotic,  and  religious  movement  that  con- 


202  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

centrated  such  efforts  upon  this  great  region  at  this  formative 
period  in  its  history.  Though  the  state  could  not  have  an 
established  religion,  yet  through  physical  and  intellectual 
education  it  could  prepare  the  way  for  it.  Broad-minded 
statesmen  and  philanthropists  invite  and  welcome  a  great 
educational  work  based  upon  the  principles  of  our  common 
Christianity,  like  that  of  the  American  Sunday-School  Union 
to  supplement,  and  in  some  measure  to  crown,  public  educa- 
tion with  efficient  instruction  in  morals  and  religion.  Only 
so  can  strength,  virtue,  fidelity  and  perpetuity,  with  prosper- 
ity, be  secured  to  a  great  people — a  Bible-loving  people — and 
only  so  can  they  maintain  a  foremost  rank  among  the  nations 
of  the  world. 

The  Southern  Enterprise. — The  apparent  brilliant  success 
of  the  Mississippi  Valley  scheme  renewed  the  call  from  the 
South  for  a  similar  campaign,  known  as  the  "Southern 
Enterprise." 

The  Rev.  Dr.  William  S.  Plumer,  then  of  Virginia,  represent- 
ing the  many  friends  of  the  cause  in  that  region,  stated  their 
desire  for,  and  the  importance  of,  Sunday-schools  in  the 
South  to  the  managers  of  the  Union  early  in  1833.  Inspired 
by  his  southern  eloquence,  the  managers  agreed  to  undertake  a 
similar  mission,  if  the  Society  at  its  annual  meeting  should  ap- 
prove of  the  plan,  and  funds  could  be  provided  for  it.  It 
appeared  from  loud  and  pressing  calls  coming  from  various 
quarters  in  the  southern  part  of  the  country,  that  the  friends 
there  were  prepared  for  a  vigorous  and  general  effort  for  the 
extension  of  Sunday-schools,  and  desired  the  American  Sunday- 
School  Union  to  lead.  Thus  it  came  to  pass  that  at  the  May 
anniversary  in  1834  the  following  action  was  adopted: 

Resolved,  that  the  American  Sunday-School  Union  will  en- 
deavor, in  reliance  upon  the  aid  and  blessing  of  Almighty  God, 
to  plant  and  for  five  years  sustain  Sabbath-schools  in  every 
neighborhood  (where  such  schools  may  be  desired  by  the  people 
and  where  in  other  respects  it  may  be  practical)  within  the 
bounds  of  the  states  of  Maryland,  Virginia,  North  Carolina, 
South  Carolina,  Georgia,  Alabama,  the  District  of  Columbia, 
and  the  territory  of  Florida. 

The  area  of  this  field  was  computed  at  330,000  square  miles 
and  its  population  was  about  4,000,000,  about  800,000  of  which 
were  children  and  youth  of  a  suitable  age  to  attend  such 


MISSIONARY  AND  EXTENSION  WORK        203 

schools,  and  500,000  of  them  were  white.  One  of  the  strong 
reasons  for  undertaking  the  work  was  that  "the  common 
schools,  provided  at  public  expense,  were  not  sufficient  for  the 
population."  The  school  funds  of  these  Southern  States  were 
comparatively  small.  The  provisions  for  instruction  were  so 
inadequate  that  it  was  stated  a  large  number  of  white  adults 
in  this  great  district  could  not  read,  and  many  children  were 
growing  up  in  ignorance.  While  this  was  not  equally  true  of 
all  those  states,  nor  of  every  part  of  any  one  state,  it  was  a 
fact  in  many  places,  according  to  the  testimony  of  competent 
citizens. 

By  the  establishment  of  Sunday-schools  it  was  computed 
that  this  deficiency  in  education  might  be  in  part  supplied, 
interesting  and  profitable  books  distributed,  and  encourage- 
ment given  to  a  system  of  general  education.  Another  reason 
assigned  for  this  campaign  in  the  Southern  States  was  that  a 
careful  survey  of  existing  schools  and  conditions  showed  that 
there  were  less  than  75,000  members  in  all  the  Sunday-schools 
of  that  entire  region.  While  Maryland,  which  had  a  state 
Sunday-school  union,  had  been  at  work  under  a  resolution  for 
five  years  to  establish  Sunday-schools  in  that  state,  and  a 
similar  effort  had  been  made  in  South  Carolina,  yet  neither 
state,  it  was  said,  could  complete  the  work  without  aid.  More- 
over, it  was  added  as  a  strong  reason  for  this  new  campaign, 
that  immigration  was  drifting  from  the  South  into  the  Valley 
of  the  Mississippi,  and  that  by  efficiently  prosecuting  Sunday- 
school  work  in  the  South — which  was  counted  one  of  the 
cradles  of  the  West — the  Society  would  thus  be  contributing 
toward  the  solution  of  the  problem  of  planting  schools  in  the 
Mississippi  Valley. 

It  will  be  noticed  that  these  two  schemes  partially  over- 
lapped each  other,  Alabama  being  counted  in  both  areas,  but 
this  state  was  later  classed  with  the  southern  rather  than  with 
the  Mississippi  Valley  group. 

The  southern  people  entered  with  alacrity  upon  this  cam- 
paign. It  created  an  enthusiasm  which  swept  over  the 
country,  second  only  in  magnitude  to  that  aroused  by  the 
larger  Mississippi  enterprise.  Crowded  meetings  were  held 
in  support  of  it  at  Richmond,  Petersburg,  Charleston,  Savan- 
nah ,  Columbia,  and  elsewhere  in  the  South. 


204  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

A  number  of  widely  known  representative  ministers  and 
educators  from  the  South  were  present  at  the  anniversary  in 
Philadelphia  when  the  enterprise  was  proposed,  and  an  en- 
thusiastic meeting  was  held  at  which  more  than  forty  gentle- 
men arose  in  succession  and  gave  pledges  of  what  they  would 
do  in  support  of  this  campaign.  About  $5,000  were  definitely 
subscribed,  besides  a  large  number  of  other  pledges  indefinite 
as  to  their  amounts.  Similar  enthusiastic  meetings  were  held 
in  New  York,  New  Haven,  Hartford,  Providence  and  Boston, 
and  from  each  of  these  places,  as  well  as  from  the  South, 
liberal  subscriptions  were  made  and  strong  pledges  given  of 
increased  support  of  the  Union  in  carrying  forward  this 
southern  campaign.  By  a  few  liberal  gentlemen  in  Boston 
over  SI, 000  were  subscribed,  and  about  half  as  much  in 
Providence.  Over  $1,200  were  pledged  in  a  single  meeting 
in  Hartford  and  upward  of  $800  in  New  Haven,  and  smaller 
sums  in  a  number  of  places  throughout  New  England  and 
the  North. 

It  is  interesting  at  this  date  to  note  what  stirred  the  zeal 
for  it  in  the  New  England  States,  as  voiced  by  Professor 
Goodrich  of  Yale  College,  who  pointed  out  "the  influence  that 
this  effort  is  going  to  exert  in  calming  the  political  and  sec- 
tional animosities  which  have  too  much  alienated  the  South 
and  the  North."  Although  the  Society  had  already  accumu- 
lated a  debt  by  the  Mississippi  Valley  scheme,  it  entered  upon 
this  southern  campaign  with  great  vigor  and  prosecuted  it 
with  a  large  measure  of  success.  It  was  partly  handicapped 
by  the  fear  of  arousing  antagonism  between  the  races  of  the 
South,  and  partly  by  the  difficulty  of  securing  competent 
workers.  The  Union's  purpose,  there  as  elsewhere,  was  to 
secure  agents  and  missionaries  from  the  states  in  which  the 
work  was  to  be  done.  But  properly  qualified  persons  willing 
to  engage  in  it  were  hard  to  obtain  in  sufficient  numbers,  and 
buildings  in  which  to  hold  the  schools  were  not  easily  found, 
because  of  the  limited  number  of  public  schools  then  in  the 
South. 

Moreover,  the  volunteer  workers  always  associated  with 
paid  missionaries  in  prosecuting  these  enterprises,  both  in  the 
Mississippi  Valley  and  in  the  South,  were  not  so  easily  secured 
nor  so  abundant  in  the  South  as  in  other  sections  of  the 


MISSIONARY  AND  EXTENSION  WORK        205 

country.  Yet  in  the  face  of  these  obstacles  the  results  of  the 
work  gratified  the  Christian  people  of  those  states.  They 
noted  many  churches  strengthened,  and  Bible  study  was 
widely  increased.  It  led  prominent  Southern  men  also 
urgently  to  request  the  Union  to  supply  libraries  suitable  for 
common  schools  in  those  states.  In  response  to  this  1,000 
libraries,  each  of  120  volumes,  carefully  selected,  were  issued 
for  this  purpose. 

Notwithstanding  strong  sentiment  in  favor  of  this  scheme, 
it  could  not  be  carried  out  except  in  a  modified  form.  The 
structure  of  our  government  does  not  admit  of  any  union  of 
church  and  state.  It  offers  freedom  of  worship  to  all,  and 
cannot,  therefore,  be  partial  to  any  one  form  of  the  Christian 
religion.  Some  statesmen  and  many  politicians  held  that 
this  scheme  violated  the  spirit  of  our  government;  more 
broad-minded  philanthropists  dissented  from  this  view.  The 
larger  number  of  these  libraries,  however,  were  purchased  and 
distributed  in  private  schools  and  families  throughout  that 
section.  Thus  modified,  the  original  idea  resulted  in  great 
good  to  a  large  number  of  communities. 

Call  for  World-Wide  Work. — Schemes  of  such  immense  mag- 
nitude as  that  for  the  Mississippi  Valley  and  for  the  South 
Atlantic  States  seemed  to  have  led  the  people  to  think  that 
the  Union  could  dare  and  do  anything.  Hardly  had  this 
Southern  Enterprise  been  inaugurated  before  urgent  appeals 
began  to  pour  in  upon  the  Society  for  increased  aid  in  supply- 
ing publications  to  American  mission  stations  in  foreign  lands 
and  among  the  Indians.  Donations  of  literature  had  been 
previously  made  to  American  missions  in  Burma,  Syria,  India, 
and  the  islands  of  the  Pacific.  It  is  recorded  that  in  1833,  in 
response  to  "an  irresistible  appeal"  in  behalf  of  the  youth  of 
France  made  by  a  missionary  there,  $500  were  appropriated 
to  furnish  publications  of  the  Union  and  to  aid  in  the  trans- 
lation of  them  into  the  French  language.  Similar  urgent  re- 
quests had  come  for  publications  in  the  Portuguese  and 
Spanish  languages  to  be  used  in  Brazil  and  other  countries 
in  South  America,  and  grants  were  made  in  response  to 
them. 

At  the  anniversary  in  1834  Rev.  Mr.  Winslow,  an  eminent 
missionary  from  Ceylon,  made  an  eloquent  appeal  for  books 


206  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

needed  for  the  children  of  American  missionaries  and  for  those 
of  English  residents  in  India,  and  also  for  native  children,  some 
of  whom  understood  the  English  language,  in  addition  to 
books  and  papers  desired  for  translation.  His  request  was 
strongly  endorsed  by  the  American  Board  of  Commissioners 
for  Foreign  Missions  at  Boston.  This  strong  appeal  resulted 
in  a  resolution  of  the  Society  to  raise  $12,000  "for  the  purpose 
of  supplying  foreign  missionary  stations,  sustained  by  Ameri- 
can churches,  with  sets  of  the  Society's  publications."  With 
three  schemes  of  the  magnitude  of  these  already  before  the 
Union  it  is  not  remarkable  that  the  full  sum  for  the  last  one 
was  not  realized,  although  the  Society  did  furnish  complete 
sets  of  its  publications  to  many  mission  stations  in  Asia, 
Africa,  the  Sandwich  Islands  and  elsewhere. 

The  translation  of  Bible  dictionaries  and  other  biblical 
helps  into  foreign  languages  was  frequently  encouraged  by 
liberal  appropriations.  Repeated  appeals  continued  to  come 
for  elementary  works  to  be  translated  for  use  in  all  parts  of 
the  world  where  American  missionaries  were  proclaiming  the 
gospel.  The  Society  again  and  again  responded  to  these 
appeals,  having  faith  in  the  liberality  of  its  friends  to  sustain 
it  in  these  benevolent  measures. 

The  managers  had  a  large  outlook  then,  for  in  1835  they 
declared  that  the  objects  of  the  Society  were  "to  assist  in 
carrying  the  Gospel  to  every  family  in  the  world,  and  to 
ensure  the  religious  instruction  of  every  child,  and  the  con- 
quest of  the  world  for  Christ." 

Any  one  of  the  three  great  enterprises  thus  entered  upon  by 
the  Union  within  three  years  would,  in  those  times,  have  been 
sufficient  to  have  appalled  a  much  older  and  stronger  organiza- 
tion. It  need  not  surprise  us  that  the  projectors  found  the 
realization  of  their  plans  far  more  difficult  than  they  had  at 
first,  imagined.  Looking  back  upon  this  history  some  years 
later,  and  sobered  by  their  experience,  they  stated  the  results 
as  marvelous,  and  yet  as  falling  below  their  expectations. 
They  justified  their  hopes  and  acts  by  pointing  to  the  small 
facilities  at  hand  and  the  great  difficulties  which  confronted 
their  efforts.  Thus  they  say,  "We  began  without  any  plan 
of  instruction,  without  text-books,  and  in  the  face  of  dis- 
couragement and  opposition."     But  they  add: 


MISSIONARY  AND  EXTENSION  WORK       207 

We  have  a  highly  approved  system  of  instruction  now,  adopted 
substantially  in  nineteen-twentieths  of  the  Sunday-schools  of  the 
United  States,  embracing  probably  quite  two  millions  of  persons. 
.  .  .  We  began  with  no  scheme  of  propogation;  ...  we 
have  now,  on  a  reduced  complement,  seventy  missionaries  to  ex- 
plore the  land,  to  seek  out  and  supply  the  destitute.  .  .  . 
We  began  without  experience.  It  was  a  new  thing  among  us  and 
there  was,  therefore,  no  trained  band  of  helpers  and  sympathizers 
on  whom  we  could  rely.  .  .  .  Now  there  are  myriads  of  men 
and  women,  some  of  them  occupying  high  positions  in  Church 
and  State,  whose  warmest  sympathies  flow  toward  the  Sunday- 
school.  .  .  .  We  began  when  the  Sunday-school  interests 
of  the  country  were  almost  entirely  associated  with  one  central 
organization.  For  many  years  the  American  Sunday-School 
Union  was  the  only  large  publisher  of  books  for  Sunday-schools 
and  formed  the  only  national  association  for  Sunday-school  pur- 
poses. Now  several  large  and  powerful  denominational  societies 
have  prolific  presses  and  vast  faculties  for  extending  and  strength- 
ening the  Sunday-schools  connected  with  their  various  churches. 
.  .  .  Moreover,  other  forms  of  service  of  great  magnitude  have 
sprung  up  in  the  churches  and  to  some  extent  have  overshadowed 
the  agency  of  the  Sunday-school  which  has  been  all  the  while 
preparing  readers  of  the  Bible  .  .  .  and  training  uncounted 
multitudes  to  habits  of  self-denial  and  benevolent  exertions. 


This  fully  answered  the  query  why  the  Sunday-School  Union 
had  not  accomplished  even  greater  results  up  to  that  time.1 

Women's  Auxiliary. — Early  in  the  organized  Sunday-school 
movement  in  America  the  women  had  a  large  share,  as  al- 
ready has  been  shown.  They  formed  an  early  Sunday-school 
union  in  New  York,  and  a  society  for  promoting  Sunday- 
schools  in  Philadelphia  at  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth 
century.  They  do  not  appear  to  have  been  asked  to  aid  in 
promoting  the  three  great  enterprises  narrated  above,  except 
as  they  might  be  a  part  of  any  mixed  assembly.  It  is,  there- 
fore, less  remarkable  that  they  were  not  conspicuous  in  for- 
warding an  enterprise  for  the  benefit  of  the  children  and  the 
youth  of  the  country.  Yet  unsolicited,  not  a  few  of  them 
manifested  a  significant  interest  in  promoting  this  cause  on 
their  own  account.  Thus  a  number  of  benevolent  women  of 
Boston  and  Roxbury,  belonging  to  different  religious  de- 
nominations, voluntarily  associated  themselves  together  to 
devise  a  method  for  aiding  the  Society  in  establishing  Sunday- 
schools  in  the  Western  States  and  territories.  In  transmitting 
the  proceeds  of  a  May  Day  Festival,  they  said:    "Believing 

i  Report,  1849,  pp.  12,  13,  18. 


208  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

that  the  field  of  the  West  is  fully  known  to  the  American 
Sunday-School  Union,  and  understanding  that  many  thou- 
sands of  dollars  could  be  employed  by  you  in  sending  out 
libraries  where  they  are  urgently  called  for,  we  forward  you 
$1,273.33,  the  avails  of  the  May  Day  Festival."  That  sum 
provided  libraries  for  more  than  a  hundred  different  com- 
munities. 

The  grateful  responses  called  forth  from  the  communities 
receiving  these  libraries  were  published,  and  stirred  up  women 
elsewhere  to  provide  further  contributions  to  send  libraries  to 
other  communities.  Mrs.  Sigourney  wrote  appropriate  poetical 
lines  commemorating  the  gift,  and  a  floral  procession  of 
Sunday-schools  was  held  in  Philadelphia,  which  resulted  in 
adding  $500  toward  Sunday-school  libraries  in  the  West,  and 
later  another  festive  season  was  observed,  in  which  about 
$1,000  more  was  handed  to  the  Union  for  a  similar  benevolent 
purpose. 

These  floral  processions  were  due  to  the  skill  and  industry  of  a 
large  number  of  ladies  who  kindly  volunteered  their  valuable 
services  for  the  occasion.  Nearly  two  thousand  baskets  were 
made  out  of  pasteboard  in  all  the  variety  of  form  which  fancy 
could  suggest;  and  being  covered  with  moss,  were  filled  with 
beautiful,  bouquets,  most  of  which  were  cheerfully  contributed 
by  the  proprietors  of  public  and  private  gardens  in  the  city  and 
vicinity.  These  baskets  were  borne  by  the  children  on  light 
frames  and,  together  with  wreaths  of  flowers  and  tasteful  ban- 
ners, gave  a  beautiful  appearance  to  the  procession. 

The  assembly  gathered  in  the  open  park  on  Washington 
Square,  where  appropriate  music  was  furnished  by  an  excellent 
band,  whose  services  were  generously  tendered  for  the  occa- 
sion. Hymns  were  sung,  an  address  was  made,  and  in  the 
evening  the  flowers  were  arranged  for  exhibition  and  sale, 
which  increased  the  funds  for  providing  Sunday-school  libraries 
for  gratuitous  circulation  in  the  newer  settlements  of  the 
West.  This  form  of  benevolence  was  unusual,  and  served  to 
interest  the  givers  and  increase  their  desire  for  promoting  the 
good  cause,  besides  being  of  special  blessing  to  thousands  who 
received  the  gifts.1 

Women  were  always  abundant  in  labors  as  members  of  the 
teaching  force  in  the  Sunday-school.     Indeed,  without  their 

1  Report,  1S44,  p.  81,  ff. 


SECRETARIES   OF   MISSIONS 


M.  A.  Wurts,  1861-81. 


L.  Milton  Marsh,  18S1-83 


J.  M.  Crowell,  D.  D.,  18S3-1908. 


J.  M.  Andrew-,  100S-10. 


MISSIONARY  AND  EXTENSION  WORK       209 

co-operation,  it  is  doubtful  whether  the  modern  Sunday- 
school  movement  would  not  have  proved  a  conspicuous  failure. 
About  three  or  four  out  of  every  five  teachers  in  the  Sunday- 
schools  throughout  the  country  were  women.  Besides  the 
natural  intuition  of  woman  as  a  teacher  of  the  young,  many  of 
these  were  trained,  competent,  and  consecrated  instructors. 
Pioneers  engaged  in  the  work  of  the  extension  of  Bible  schools 
in  destitute  places  have  repeatedly  found  that  an  experienced 
and  earnest  woman  was  the  best  leader  in  the  community  and 
made  the  best  superintendent  of  the  school.  Moreover, 
having  the  care  of  the  children  at  an  early  age  in  the  home, 
women  were  quicker  to  see  the  need  as  well  as  the  importance 
of  religious  training  of  the  child,  and,  therefore,  more  heartily 
welcomed  the  coming  of  a  Sunday-school  missionary  or  other 
Christian  worker  to  found  and  to  foster  a  school  in  their 
neglected  neighborhood.  In  simple  justice,  therefore,  the 
large  share  which  women  have  had  in  the  success  of  this 
movement  should  receive  generous  recognition. 

Women  as  Authors. — As  successful  authors  and  writers  of 
juvenile  literature,  women  have  shown  a  marked  aptitude  in 
the  preparation  of  literature  suitable  to  start  and  to  foster  the 
religious  education  of  the  young.  From  the  early  days  of  this 
movement  they  were  among  the  foremost  authors  of  children's 
books.  Many  of  them  achieved  distinction,  and  some  won 
national  fame  thereby.  In  the  field  of  juvenile  religious  litera- 
ture, women  were  more  numerous  and  more  versatile  in 
America  during  the  early  part  of  the  last  century  than  were 
their  masculine  associates.  They  were  successful  in  pre- 
senting truth  in  simple  terms  and  attractive  forms,  with  apt 
illustrations  suited  to  childhood  and  youth. 

In  view  of  the  prominent  service  which  women  rendered 
to  this  movement  in  its  teaching  force  and  in  contributing  so 
largely  to  the  preparation  of  its  literature,  it  seems  remark- 
able that  they  did  not  become  more  conspicuous  in  some 
organized  capacity  in  the  work  of  extending  and  improving 
Sunday-schools.  Possibly  it  may  have  been  because  woman's 
day  had  not  yet  arrived.  In  most  of  the  churches  it  was  not 
popular  for  women  to  speak  in  public  or  to  attempt  to  inter- 
pret the  sacred  Word.  The  learned  interpretation  of  it  was 
left  to  clergymen,  theologians,  and  college  professors.    Women 


210  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

accepted  the  humbler  but  no  less  important  sphere  of  in- 
structing the  race  in  its  formative  period  and  giving  the  young 
some  knowledge  of  the  rudiments  of  religion,  laying  a  founda- 
tion upon  which  the  church  could  safely  build.  It  would  seem 
a  distinct  loss,  however,  that  the  American  Sunday-School 
Union  should  miss  the  opportunity  of  fostering  and  encourag- 
ing an  organization  of  women  in  the  work  in  which  they  might 
have  become  such  valuable  auxiliaries. 

SKETCHES    OF   PROMINENT    WORKERS 

A.  W.  Corey  (1803-1880). 

At  the  large  and  enthusiastic  meeting  held  in  New  York  in 
1830,  to  encourage  the  American  Sunday-School  Union  in 
planting  new  Sunday-schools  in  the  Valley  of  the  Mississippi, 
a  young  man  was  present  from  its  New  York  Depository. 
The  next  morning  a  superintendent  of  one  of  the  largest 
Sunday-schools  in  the  city  called  at  the  New  York  office  of  the 
Society  and  offered  the  services  of  himself  and  his  wife  for  two 
years  as  missionaries,  to  aid  in  carrying  out  the  resolution 
which  was  the  theme  of  the  previous  evening's  meeting.  The 
offer  was  accepted,  and  the  same  young  man  of  the  office  had 
the  pleasure  of  fitting  them  out  with  a  horse  and  a  small  wagon 
and  other  necessaries  for  the  journey,  which  required  about  a 
month.  They  spent  two  years  traveling  in  a  similar  way  up 
and  down  the  Mississippi  Valley,  in  fulfilment  of  their  mis- 
sion. The  missionaries  were  B.  J.  Seward  and  his  wife,  and 
the  young  man  who  helped  them  to  start  on  their  journey  was 
A.  W.  Corey. 

Mr.  Corey  was  efficient  in  promoting  the  extension  of 
Sunday-schools  in  the  same  valley  for  upward  of  fifty  years. 
He  was  born  in  Orange  County,  New  York,  April,  1803,  and 
was  a  schoolmate  of  Hon.  William  H.  Seward,  who  became  his 
lifelong  friend.  Giving  up  the  study  of  medicine,  he  began  to 
prepare  for  the  ministry.  Failing  health  forced  him  to  sus- 
pend those  studies  and  seek  medical  advice  in  Philadelphia. 
While  in  that  city  he  aided  in  raising  some  of  the  earlier  gifts 
to  the  American  Sunday-School  Union.  Recovering  his 
health,  he  entered  the  service  of  the  Society  in  the  New  York 
Depository,  140  Nassau  Street.     He  was  one  of  the  founders 


MISSIONARY  AND  EXTENSION  WORK        211 

of  The  New  York  Evangelist,  and  later,  in  1831,  was  with  a 
religious  paper  in  Cincinnati,  and  afterward  secretary  and 
editor  for  the  Illinois  State  Temperance  Society.  His  for- 
mer services  and  his  familiarity  with  the  character  of  the 
people  in  the  Mississippi  Valley  led  to  his  re-entering  the 
service  of  the  American  Sunday-School  Union,  and  finally 
having  charge  of  its  missionary  operations  in  that  Valley. 
Under  his  supervision  the  missionary  work  was  organized 
upon  a  system  better  adapted  to  the  vastness  of  the  territory, 
to  the  tide  of  immigration,  and  to  the  fostering  of  weak  schools, 
which  required  months  and  sometimes  years  of  oversight  to 
give  them  stability  and  strength. 

He  was  well  qualified  by  his  previous  experience  and  train- 
ing to  master  the  wants  of  this  vast  district,  grasp  the  work, 
organize  forces  at  the  command  of  the  Society,  appeal  for 
funds,  secure  workers,  direct  their  labors,  and  insure  the 
largest  results.  He  kept  himself  in  close  touch  with  all  the 
missionaries  and  their  schools  not  only  by  personal  visitation, 
but  by  a  voluminous  correspondence,  and  was  well  informed  of 
the  conditions  of  the  many  communities  scattered  over  the 
valley,  and  of  their  varied  wants  and  of  the  practical  ways  to 
meet  them. 

He  had  a  singular  gift  and  perseverance  in  enlisting  people 
of  means  to  sustain  the  Society's  work.  Besides  the  sums 
which  he  aided  in  securing  in  New  York,  a  Sunday-school 
teacher  of  St.  Louis,  Missouri,  known  to  the  public  as  "0. 
B.,"  gave  many  thousand  dollars  to  the  Society,  through  Mr. 
Corey,  to  aid  it  in  furnishing  its  literature  to  new  and  needy 
Sunday-schools  in  the  West.  To  the  first  two  new  Sunday- 
schools  organized  in  any  year  in  any  county  west  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi River  he  offered  to  give  one-half  of  a  Sunday-school 
library,  costing  either  ten  or  twenty  dollars,  according  to  the 
size  of  the  school,  provided  the  school  or  its  friends  would  fur- 
nish the  other  half.  This  offer  cost  him  over  $1,000  every 
year  for  more  than  eighteen  years.1 

Mr.  Corey  was  a  writer  of  force  and  ability.  He  prepared 
numerous  pamphlets  and  tracts  upon  temperance,  and  many 
of  the  printed  statements  and  appeals  advocating  the  progress 
of  Sunday-schools  in  the  West  were  from  his  pen.     He  pre- 

1  Corey's  MS.  Narrative,  p.  89. 


212  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

pared  an  extended  account  of  his  labors  near  the  close  of  his 
life  and  sent  the  manuscript  to  the  Society.  It  is  carefully 
kept  in  its  archives,  but  has  never  been  published. 

Elsewhere  is  given  a  summary  of  Mr.  Corey's  work  and 
that  of  his  associates,  in  the  great  Valley  of  the  Mississippi, 
taken  from  this  unpublished  manuscript.  When  age  and  in- 
firmity began  to  interfere  with  his  work  he  proposed  to  resign, 
but  the  Society  declined  to  accept  his  resignation,  believing 
that  his  long  and  faithful  and  efficient  service  in  the  Union  de- 
served recognition  and  a  continuance  of  his  commission  to  the 
end  of  his  life,  which  came  soon  after — May  18,  1880. 

From  his  wide  observation  and  intimate  acquaintance  with 
the  progress  of  the  work  in  that  valley  for  over  fifty  years,  it 
was  Mr.  Corey's  opinion  that  beyond  all  doubt  four-fifths  of 
the  Sunday-schools  planted  in  the  Valley  of  the  Mississippi 
during  his  lifetime  were  due  to  the  work  of  the  American 
Sunday-School  Union,  and  that  the  strong  Sunday-school 
sentiment  which  pervaded  the  whole  region  was  started  in  the 
Society's  famous  resolution  of  1830. 

John  Adams,  LL.D.  (1772-1863),  Missionary  (1842-1853). 

Near  the  close  of  his  life  Mr.  Adams  said,  "In  my  epitaph 
do  not  put  LL.D.  nor  any  title  after  my  name,  but  plain  'John 
Adams;  a  lover  of  children,  a  guide  of  youth,  a  sinner  saved  by 
grace.'  "    This  request  is  an  index  of  the  man's  character. 

John  Adams  was  of  the  same  ancestry  as  the  two  presidents, 
John  and  John  Quincy  Adams.  He  was  born  in  1772,  a 
graduate  of  Yale  in  1795,  a  distinguished  teacher,  a  foremost 
scholar,  a  profound,  earnest,  and  sympathetic  religious  char- 
acter. It  was  said  that  he  directed  more  young  men  to  college 
and  into  the  Christian  ministry  than  any  other  educator  of  his 
time.  With  his  fellow  educators — Drs.  Noah  Porter,  Leonard 
Woods,  Moses  Stuart,  and  others — he  aided  in  forming  the 
famous  weekly  "Monday  Evening  Meeting"  for  "devising 
plans  of  doing  good  and  advancing  the  Redeemer's  Kingdom 
at  home  and  abroad."  In  that  little  assembly  some  of  the 
notable  national  institutions  were  first  conceived,  such  as  the 
American  Tract  Society,  the  American  Education  Society,  the 
American  Temperance  Society,  and  the  Sabbath  Association. 

Retiring  from  his  work  as  principal  of  Phillips  Academy, 


MISSIONARY  AND  EXTENSION  WORK       213 

Andover,  Massachusetts,  in  1833,  he  went  to  Jacksonville, 
Illinois.  His  habits  of  activity  impelled  him  to  seek  some 
systematic  work.  He  had  good  health  and  a  good  constitu- 
tion. In  looking  for  useful  service,  he  was  impressed  with  the 
missionary  operations  of  the  American  Sunday-School  Union, 
and,  as  an  educator,  studied  its  principles  and  methods.  He 
was  so  strongly  impressed  therewith  that  he  entered  its  service 
as  a  missionary  in  Central  Illinois  in  1842.  His  study  of  the 
conditions  in  that  region  at  that  early  day  forced  him  to  look 
for  the  best  agency  for  the  salvation  of  new  western  com- 
munities which  were  soon  to  control  the  destiny  of  the  country. 
"Something  systematic  and  effectual  must  be  done  and  that 
very  soon,  or  it  will  be  too  late,"  was  his  belief.  He  found 
destitute  neighborhoods  where  there  were  no  day  schools,  no 
schoolhouses,  no  churches,  no  meeting-houses,  no  ministers; 
the  Sabbath  was  spent  in  labor,  trading,  visiting,  hunting, 
fishing,  or  sports.  He  gathered  the  people  of  each  new  com- 
munity for  Bible  study,  stimulated  them  to  build  a  school- 
house,  form  a  library,  and  in  the  course  of  two  or  three  years 
a  church  was  organized.  A  few  at  first,  for  the  sake  of  unity 
and  strength,  merged  their  individual  preferences.  He  says, 
"The  house  of  worship  built  and  paid  for  and  a  minister 
secured,  society  was  improved,  virtue  promoted,  and  reforma- 
tion commenced  at  the  right  point."  Out  of  his  experience 
he  could  instruct  teachers,  showing  them  by  example  how  to 
teach. 

"Father"  Adams,  as  he  was  familiarly  called  in  the  West, 
discovered  Stephen  Paxson  on  this  wise:  B.  J.  Seward  had  the 
oversight  of  the  Mississippi  Valley  work,  and  found  and  em- 
ployed Rev.  John  M.  Peck  as  a  missionary  of  the  Union  in  that 
valley.  Mr.  Peck  organized  a  Union  Sunday-school  at  Win- 
chester, Illinois.  There  was  so  much  division  and  so  little 
religious  strength  in  the  place  that  the  school  soon  declined. 
Father  Adams,  a  born  educator,  revived  and  reorganized  the 
school.  It  was  into  this  school  that  Stephen  Paxson  was 
brought  by  his  daughter  Mary,  and  there  he  was  discovered 
by  Dr.  Adams,  as  a  person  of  rare  native  gifts  suited  to  mission 
work.  Dr.  Adams  recommended  him  to  A.  W.  Corey,  then 
superintendent  of  the  work  in  St.  Louis.  The  future  achieve- 
ments of  this  stammering  man  proved  the  sagacity  of  Dr. 


214  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

Adams  in  discerning  a  rare  Christian  worker,  where  multi- 
tudes of  others  would  have  overlooked  him. 

Closing  his  labors,  Dr.  Adams  made  a  visit  to  his  son,  the 
Rev.  William  Adams,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  then  pastor  of  a  large 
church  in  New  York  City.  There  he  wrote  out  his  experience 
and  testimony:  "Children  need  something  more  than  occa- 
sional sermons,  which  are  often  few  and  far  between  and  not 
adapted  to  their  capacity.  They  and  the  families  need  to  be 
taught  not  only  to  read  the  Bible,  but  to  understand  it.  It  is 
evident,"  he  added,  "that  neither  the  home  missionary  nor 
the  devoted  colporteur  alone  can  do  this  work,  and  the  Sunday- 
school  can  do  it  effectually.  This  I  know  from  my  observa- 
tion. In  prosecuting  my  labors  in  the  central  part  of  Illinois, 
through  twenty  counties  in  about  eleven  years,  I  have  gath- 
ered and  organized  322  new  Sunday-schools,  embracing  2,500 
teachers  and  more  than  16,000  scholars.  I  have  distributed 
among  these  and  other  schools  about  50,000  volumes  published 
by  the  American  Sunday-School  Union,  besides  Bibles,  Testa- 
ments, and  tracts." 

The  schools  were  organized  in  communities  such  as  have 
been  already  described.  He  closes  his  testimony  by  saying, 
"For  myself,  now  retiring  from  my  field  of  labor,  from  my 
own  observation  of  the  necessity  and  benefits  of  Sunday- 
schools  I  do  not  hesitate  to  say  that  if  I  could  bequeath 
$100,000  to  the  various  benevolent  societies  in  our  land,  I 
would  give  one-half  of  it  to  the  Society  that  takes  care  of  the 
children — the  American  Sunday-School  Union." 

Hon.  John  McLean,  Second  President  of  the  American  Sunday- 
School  Union  (1848-1861). 
The  Hon.  John  McLean,  second  president  of  the  American 
Sunday-School  Union,  was  a  member  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  loyal  to  its  historic  spirit  and  yet  placing 
loyalty  to  Jesus  Christ  as  the  first  principle  of  Christian  service. 
This  is  well  illustrated  by  the  story  of  how  he  began  family 
worship.  He  had  been  skeptical  in  early  life,  but  was  con- 
vinced of  the  truth  of  the  Christian  religion  and  accepted 
Christ  as  his  Saviour.  It  is  said  he  went  home  and  was 
hardly  within  the  doors  before  he  said,  "We  are  to  have  family 
prayers.     Let  us  go  to  the  drawing-room  and  pray  together." 


MISSIONARY  AND  EXTENSION  WORK        215 

"But,"  his  wife  answered,  "there  are  four  lawyers  there. 
They  have  come  to  attend  court.  We  do  not  want  to  go  there; 
let  us  go  to  the  kitchen  and  have  prayers."  He  is  said  to  have 
replied,  "It  is  the  first  time  I  ever  invited  the  Lord  to  my 
house,  and  I  do  not  propose  to  invite  him  to  the  kitchen.  If 
I  am  a  Christian  I  am  to  have  family  prayer."  He  then 
went  in  and  said  to  the  lawyers,  "My  friends,  I  have  been  con- 
vinced of  the  truth  of  Christianity.  I  have  found  that  Jesus 
died  for  me.  I  have  given  myself  to  him.  I  am  now  to  make 
my  first  prayer  in  my  own  house.  You  may,  however,  do  as 
you  please,  stay  or  go."  The  lawyers  said  they  would  like 
very  much  to  stay,  and  stay  they  did.  This  is  the  man  who 
for  his  inflexible  integrity  and  Christian  fidelity  was  chosen 
the  second  president  of  the  American  Sunday-School  Union. 
He  was  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  at 
that  time,  and  had  been  vice-president  of  the  Union  since 
1829. 

Judge  McLean  was  born  in  Morris  County,  New  Jersey, 
March  11,  1785.  His  parents  removed  to  Ohio  in  his  early 
childhood.  There  he  studied  and  practiced  law.  He  was  a 
member  of  Congress,  judge  of  the  supreme  court  in  Ohio,  and 
Postmaster  General  under  two  administrations — Madison  and 
John  Quincy  Adams — and  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  until 
his  death,  April  4,  1861.  He  was  distinguished  for  eloquence 
and  ability  as  an  advocate,  and  for  the  sanity  and  wisdom  of 
his  decisions  as  judge.  His  dissenting  opinion  in  the  Dred 
Scott  case,  when  he  opposed  the  decree  of  Chief  Justice  Taney 
and  a  majority  of  the  court,  is  celebrated  in  history.  His 
patriotism  was  shown  by  his  hatred  of  the  spoils  system,  lead- 
ing him  to  refuse  to  continue  as  Postmaster  General  under 
Andrew  Jackson  because  it  might  require  him  to  appoint  some 
to  public  office  for  political  service. 

On  the  death  of  Alexander  Henry,  he  was  unanimously 
elected  president  of  the  American  Sunday-School  Union.  He 
first  declined  the  honor,  fearing  that  his  active  duties  in  the 
government  would  not  allow  him  to  take  as  responsible  a  part 
in  the  Society's  work  as  he  would  wish.  However,  he  had  such 
confidence  in  the  principles  of  the  Society's  organization  and 
in  its  adaptation  to  the  religious  and  moral  needs  of  the 
country,  that  he  was  willing  to  give  it  whatever  influence  and 


216  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

time  his  duties  might  allow.  He  stated  his  views  upon  relig- 
ious education  very  forcibly  and  fully  in  a  letter  to  the  Union, 
and  a  year  later  in  an  address  to  the  Society,  when  he  pre- 
sided at  its  anniversary  in  1850.  He  expressed  his  belief  as 
follows: 

Sabbath-schools  must  be  relied  on  as  a  principal  agent  in  this 
great  work:  to  save  our  beloved  institutions  from  a  'yawning 
chasm,'  since  free  government  can  rest  on  no  other  basis  than 
moral  power.  ...  A  government  founded  upon  the  basis  of 
universal  suffrage  must,  in  the  nature  of  things,  encounter  popu- 
lar excitement.  .  .  .  There  can  be  no  free  government 
which  does  not  rest  upon  a  moral  basis.  Destroy  this  founda- 
tion, and  anarchy  or  despotism  necessarily  follows.  Men  can  be 
restrained  from  outrage  and  injustice  only  by  moral  and  physical 
power.  .  .  .  Make  it  strong  in  moral  power,  and  its  glorious 
principles  will  be  perpetuated.  Therefore  we  commend  this  en- 
terprise of  the  American  Sunday-School  Union  to  every  friend  of 
morality  and  to  everyone  who  loves  his  country  and  desires  to 
perpetuate  our  free  institutions. 

Judge  McLean  thus  advocated  the  spirit  and  the  work  of  the 
Society  with  that  ardent  love  for  Christ  and  with  the  patriotism 
which  he  exhibited  so  conspicuously  in  other  public  duties, 
illustrating  the  power  of  Christian  principle  to  guide  and  direct 
in  the  discharge  of  public  affairs. 

John  A.  Brown   (1788-1872),  Third  President  of  the  American 

Sunday-School  Union  (1861-1872);  Merchant,  Banker  and 

Philanthropist. 

John  A.  Brown  was  born  in  Ballymena,  Ireland,  May  21, 

1788.     Owing  to  political  agitation  he  emigrated  with  his 

father,  a  man  of  ample  fortune,  to  Baltimore  at  the  beginning 

of  the  last  century.     After  receiving  a  fair  education  and  a 

training  in  business  with  his  father  he  became  a  successful 

merchant  and  banker  in  Philadelphia,  being  chosen  a  director 

in  the  old  United  States  Bank    under  the   great  financier 

Nicholas  Biddle,  and  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the  banking 

house  of  Brown  Brothers,  of  Baltimore,  Philadelphia,  New 

York,  and  London. 

He  was  unanimously  chosen  president  of  the  American 
Sunday-School  Union  in  1861,  to  succeed  the  Hon.  John 
McLean.  His  eminence  as  a  man  of  affairs,  his  probity,  his 
sound  judgment,  his  reputation  in  banking  qualified  him  to 


MISSIONARIES 


John  Adams,  LL.  D. 


John  McCullagh. 


B.  W.  Chidlaw,  D.  D. 


Stephen  Paxson. 


Henry  Clay  Trumbull. 


Frederick  G.  Ensign. 


MISSIONARY  AND  EXTENSION  WORK        217 

guide  the  Society  prudently  through  the  exciting  period  of  the 
Civil  War.  Indeed,  the  Society  was  passing  through  serious 
internal  differences  in  regard  to  its  polity  which,  added  to  the 
stringency  caused  by  the  war,  crippled  all  branches  of  its 
work  and  even  threatened  its  existence.  Mr.  Brown's  leader- 
ship inspired  confidence  and  courage  among  managers  and 
friends  of  the  Society.  Like  an  experienced  pilot  he  was  able 
to  steer  it  amid  conflicting  projects,  bitter  animosity  and 
divided  counsels  which  endangered  its  life. 

Under  his  administration  as  president,  the  Society  came 
safely  through  the  greatest  crisis  in  the  history  of  the  country. 
Its  affairs  were  extricated  from  confusion  without  jarring  the 
harmony  which  had  been  restored  between  its  management 
and  friends  and  the  Christian  public.  Confidence  in  the 
value  and  efficiency  of  the  Society's  religious  and  educational 
work  was  fostered  and  increased  under  his  prudent  guidance. 

He  passed  into  the  fife  beyond  at  the  ripe  age  of  eighty- 
four  December  31,  1872,  leaving  to  the  Society  $10,000  and 
to  the  world  the  legacy  of  an  eminently  Christian  example, 
pointing  to  a  wise  use  of  wealth  and  talent  for  the  good  of 
humanity  and  the  advancement  of  the  cause  of  Christ. 

Lorin  B.  Tousley  (1804-1864). 

Of  the  many  persons  noted  for  their  exceptional  ability  in 
addressing  children  in  America  and  abroad,  Mr.  Tousley 
stands  in  the  forefront.  He  was  one  of  the  few  speakers  who 
could  cause  his  audience  of  little  people  to  forget  the  man  and 
fix  their  attention  upon  what  he  said.  More  than  a  decade 
before  the  middle  of  the  last  century  he  came,  a  stranger,  to 
old  Johnstown,  New  York,  and  held  the  close  attention  of 
from  1,000  to  2,000  children  (of  which  the  writer  was  one) 
in  the  open  air  for  more  than  an  hour  by  his  wonderfully 
graphic  and  terse  presentation  of  gospel  truth,  illustrated  with 
great  dramatic  power  by  incident  and  anecdote  which  alter- 
nately moved  his  audience  of  little  people  to  laughter  and  to 
tears. 

Mr.  Tousley  was  born  in  Sharon,  Vermont,  July  17,  1804. 
His  father  moved  to  western  New  York  during  the  childhood 
of  the  son.  At  the  age  of  twelve  the  boy  earnestly  desired  to 
join  the  church,  but  the  then  conservative  views  respecting 


218  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

church  membership  of  children  prevented  his  reception. 
This  fact  is  said  to  have  intensified  his  sympathy  with  children 
and  to  have  given  him  zeal  in  his  subsequent  work  for  them. 
He  had  a  common  school  education  and  for  the  rest  of  his 
training  he  humorously  declared  that  he  "was  graduated  from 
Jessup's  tan-yard/'  as  he  learned  that  trade  with  Palmer  and 
Jessup,  who  were  tanners.  His  public  religious  career  began 
by  establishing  a  Sunday-school  which  ultimately  grew  into 
a  Congregational  Church.  His  aptitude  for  this  work  be- 
came so  apparent  that  he  was  appointed  city  missionary  for 
Buffalo.  His  intense  zeal  and  energies  here  had  full  scope. 
It  is  said  that  "In  Dr.  Lord's  church  a  large  congregation  of 
little  folks  hung  on  his  lips,  Sabbath  after  Sabbath,  at  the 
afternoon  services,  as  with  burning  natural  eloquence  he 
preached  unto  them  Jesus."  It  was  clear  that  he  was  called 
of  God  and  his  services  were  in  wide  demand.  At  revivals, 
temperance  and  Sunday-school  meetings,  and  at  all  services 
where  children  were  assembled  he  was  the  favorite  speaker. 
His  addresses  abounded  in  illustrations,  anecdotes  and  argu- 
ments, now  pathetic,  now  humorous,  until  tears  arid  laughter 
swept  the  audience  at  his  will. 

For  more  than  a  score  of  years  after  1840  he  was  mis- 
sionary of  the  American  Sunday-School  Union  for  western 
New  York,  having  his  headquarters  at  Canandaigua.  Thou- 
sands of  persons  in  mature  life  and  even  in  old  age  recalled  his 
earnest  words,  his  dramatic  eloquence,  and  the  fire  and  en- 
thusiasm with  which  he  pleaded  with  them  to  live  the  Chris- 
tian life.  His  public  career  was  brought  to  a  sudden  close  by 
an  accident,  a  falling  timber  of  a  building  injuring  his  back 
and  paralyzing  his  limbs.  He  lingered  for  several  years,  suffer- 
ing much  more  from  anxiety  to  recover  that  he  might  con- 
tinue his  work  than  from  his  accident.  He  is  still  remembered 
widely  as  an  advocate  of  Sunday-schools,  the  loving  friend  of 
youth,  and  the  children's  "minister." 


SECTION  VII 

MISSIONARY  AND  EXTENSION  WORK  SYSTEMATIZED 

It  takes  time  to  gain  experience,  secure  funds  and  form  a 
satisfactory  working  system  in  any  mission  work.  At  first 
the  American  Sunday-School  Union,  like  all  new  organiza- 
tions, had  neither  the  funds  nor  the  knowledge  sufficient  to  put 
its  mission  work  on  other  than  a  tentative  business  basis. 
Rev.  William  C.  Blair,  Rev.  Timothy  Alden,  President  of 
Allegheny  College,  Mr.  M.  A.  Remley,  Dr.  Howard  Malcolm, 
and  others  had  been  employed  to  make  surveys  of  the  condi- 
tions and  religious  needs  of  the  country  from  1821  to  1825. 

Systematic  Surveys. — Another  systematic  survey  was  made 
in  1828,  and  again  after  1830  by  general  agents,  such  as  Rev. 
Robert  Baird  and  others.  The  results  of  these  surveys  were 
widely  and  forcibly  presented  to  the  people,  to  persuade  them 
to  provide  funds  adequate  to  the  magnitude  of  the  work. 
Even  the  best  theoretical  system  required  testing  to  see 
whether  it  would  fit  the  complex  conditions  of  the  country. 
Thus  after  years  of  experience  could  the  managers  of  the 
Union  formulate  a  system  approximately  satisfactory  for  its 
mission  work. 

Then,  too,  the  constantly  changing  character  of  immigra- 
tion, the  difference  in  the  nature  of  the  various  sections  of  the 
country  to  be  settled,  and  the  different  occupations  of  the 
people  called  for  changes,  and  hence  great  elasticity  in  any 
system  that  should  be  adopted. 

Early  in  the  missionary  work  of  the  Society  the  whole 
country  was  roughly  grouped  in  three  great  divisions:  First, 
New  England  and  the  eastern  Middle  States,  that  is,  the 
country  east  of  the  Alleghenies;  second,  the  Mississippi 
Valley,  covering  the  states  west  of  the  Alleghenies  to  the 
territory  of  Wisconsin  on  the  north  and  Kentucky,  Arkansas, 
Tennessee,  Louisiana,  Mississippi  and  Alabama;  and  third, 
the  Southern  States,  Virginia,  North  and  South  Carolina, 

219 


220  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

Georgia,  and  the  territory  of  Florida.  Later  Alabama  was 
transferred  to  the  southern  district. 

For  efficiency  in  prosecuting  the  Mississippi  Valley  Enter- 
prise the  first  year  was  spent  largely  in  exploration  and  survey 
of  the  conditions  of  this  vast  territory.  An  agent  was  assigned 
to  each  state,  who  was  to  become  acquainted  with  each  sec- 
tion, as  far  as  possible,  and  secure  additional  means  for  prose- 
cuting the  work  in  the  shortest  time  and  with  the  least  expense. 
The  Society  was  responsible  for  the  official  acts  of  this  agent. 
He  had  no  authority,  however,  to  appoint  or  dismiss  mis- 
sionaries. Forty-nine  missionaries  and  agents  were  em- 
ployed in  the  Valley  of  the  Mississippi  alone  in  the  year 
1830-3 1.1  Following  a  survey  they  found  that  the  tract  of 
country  to  be  supplied  under  this  resolution  embraced  the 
present  states  of  Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois,  Kentucky,  Tennessee, 
Alabama,  Louisiana,  Mississippi,  Missouri,  the  territory  of 
Arkansas,  territories  north  of  Illinois  and  northwest  of  Mis- 
souri, western  Pennsylvania,  western  Virginia,  and  a  small 
section  of  the  state  of  New  York.2  In  this  territory  they 
found,  from  surveys,  between  400  to  500  organizecl  counties, 
subdivided  into  8,000  to  10,000  villages  and  neighborhoods.3 

Excluding  so  much  of  that  region  as  might  be  already  cov- 
ered or  would  be  reached  by  other  benevolent  efforts,  inde- 
pendent of  the  Union,  the  managers  said,  "The  object  still 
retains  enough  of  its  magnitude  to  excite  the  most  enterpris- 
ing and  to  attract  the  most  aspiring  devotion.' ' 

The  perplexity  of  the  problem  before  them  can  be  imagined 
when,  in  the  employment  of  persons,  every  circumstance 
respecting  a  missionary  or  agent — his  age,  character,  health, 
prudence,  temper,  spirit,  knowledge  of  this  particular  business, 
knowledge  of  the  world  and,  more  than  all,  knowledge  of  him- 
self, the  compensation,  the  terms,  the  place  of  service,  the 
difficulties,  discouragements  and  opportunities  of  the  field — 
must  all  be  considered.  Multiply  this  by  fifty  or  one  hundred 
— the  number  of  persons  who  were  immediately  to  be  em- 
ployed— and  it  gives  some  idea  of  the  magnitude  of  their 
problem.  Then,  too,  they  wished  to  employ  voluntary  or 
gratuitous  agents  not  only  to  increase  their  efficiency,  but  to 
lessen  the  expense.     A  score  or  more  of  voluntary  missionaries 

»  Report,  1831,  p.  34.  *  Report,  1832,  p.  26.  »  Report,  1831,  p.  33. 


MISSIONARY  WORK  SYSTEMATIZED         221 

were  employed,  who  offered  gratuitously  to  supply  a  certain 
number  of  counties  with  schools  without  any  expense  to  the 
parent  Society  except  for  equipment. 

Then,  too,  owing  to  the  dearth  of  suitable  reading,  the 
Society  provided" libraries  in  connection  with  each  school,  for 
these  were  found  to  be  of  incomparable  advantage.  The 
Society  said,  "We  could  fill  our  report  with  well  authenticated 
facts  to  show  what  a  single  month's  use  of  a  good  library  has 
done  to  disabuse  and  interest  the  public  mind.  It  wins  its 
way  very  successfully  to  the  kind  hearts  and  sober  judgment 
of  all  who  use  it."1  In  a  single  year  they  made  donations  of 
literature  to  799  schools,  amounting  to  $3,917.48;  and  inside 
of  three  years  they  distributed  in  that  Valley  over  $30,000 
worth  of  books.2  In  less  than  eighteen  months  the  Society 
had  received  reports  of  2,867  schools  established  and  1,121 
visited  and  revived.  In  less  than  half  of  the  schools  estab- 
lished the  number  of  scholars  exceeded  60,000. 

After  a  comparatively  brief  experience  the  Society  found 
its  missionary  work  was  so  complex  as  to  require  a  careful 
reorganization  not  only  in  conducting  its  business  through  the 
Board,  but  also  on  the  field.  The  reports  of  each  committee 
became  so  voluminous  as  to  take  too  much  of  the  time  of  the 
meetings  of  the  Board,  and  efficiency  was  lessened  for  want 
of  some  power  that  could  keep  in  view  all  the  departments  of 
its  operations.  It  was  therefore  decided  in  1835  to  confide  the 
general  control  to  an  Exective  Committee  of  seven  members. 
Then,  for  greater  efficiency  in  the  missionary  work,  it  was  pro- 
posed to  divide  the  United  States  and  territories  into  five  dis- 
tricts or  chief  agencies :  first,  the  New  England  States,  except 
Connecticut;  second,  Connecticut,  New  York  and  northern 
New  Jersey;  third,  Pennsylvania,  Delaware,  Maryland  and 
southern  New  Jersey;  fourth,  the  Valley  of  the  Mississippi; 
fifth,  the  Southern  States.  In  each  of  these  districts,  it  was 
proposed  to  appoint  a  person  for  the  general  supervision  of  the 
Society's  operations,  the  establishing  and  assisting  of  schools, 
supplying  of  books,  collecting  funds,  and  promoting  universal 
Christian  education.3 

By  this  plan  the  Society  hoped  to  secure  increased  funds, 
interest  the  Christian  public,  and  thus  bring  the  whole  country 

i  Report,  1831,  p.  36.  2  Report,  1832,  p.  36.  •  Report,  1836,  p.  18. 


222  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

and  its  wants  within  its  knowledge  and  reach.  Earlier  than 
this  it  had  employed  the  Rev.  Robert  Baird,  D.D.,  as  a  field 
secretary,  who  gave  the  results  of  his  investigation  early  in 
1834.1 

In  introducing  this  new  grouping  and  system  the  Society 
intended  better  to  adapt  its  work  to  changing  conditions,  and 
to  secure  the  greatest  efficiency  and  the  largest  results  for  the 
least  expenditure  of  time  and  money. 

A  few  years  later  the  entire  country  was  further  divided  into 
seven  or  eight  great  districts,  and  a  supervising  agent  ap- 
pointed in  each  who  was  to  have  close  personal  oversight  of 
the  progress  of  the  work,  subject  to  the  approval  of  the  home 
Board.  Collecting  agents  were  also  employed  whose  duties 
were  not  merely  to  solicit  funds  for  the  support  of  the  work,  but 
to  stir  enthusiasm  respecting  the  need,  importance,  and  meth- 
ods pursued  in  the  Sunday-school  extension  movement,  tell 
the  story  of  its  achievements  from  time  to  time,  and  enlist  the 
sympathy  of  the  Christian  public  in  all  parts  of  the  country. 

A.  W.  Corey's  Record. — Great  care  was  taken  by  these  gen- 
eral agents  to  collect  and  preserve  the  more  important  facts 
and  results  reported  by  the  missionaries.  Thus  A.  W.  Corey, 
having  for  many  years  the  oversight  of  the  work  in  the  Missis- 
sippi Valley,  affirms:  "I  have  kept  a  continuous  register  of  all 
the  schools  organized,  visited,  and  aided  by  all  the  missionaries 
and  by  myself.  This  register  gives  the  name  of  the  school, 
the  town,  county,  and  state  where  located,  when  organized, 
the  number  of  teachers  and  scholars  then  enrolled,  the  amount 
of  literature  sold  and  donated,  the  number  of  copies  of  Scrip- 
tures furnished,  and  the  name  and  post-office  address  of  the 
superintendent."  All  these  items  he  had  reported  for  twenty- 
five  years,  month  by  month  and  year  by  year,  to  the  home 
office  at  Philadelphia.  The  aggregate  of  schools  visited  and 
aided  for  twenty-five  years  was  24,451;  teachers,  177,935; 
scholars,  1,260,847;  literature  distributed,  $206,502.39,  of  which 
$150,175.80  was  by  sale  and  $56,326.59  by  donation.  [This 
was  the  number  of  teachers  and  scholars  at  the  time  of  the 
organization  of  the  respective  schools.]  He  declares  that 
every  school  was  supplied  with  Bibles  and  records  and  no 
question  was  ever  raised    as  to  what  denomination,  if   any, 

»  Report,  1834,  p.  15. 


MISSIONARY  WORK  SYSTEMATIZED         223 

the  schools  belonged  or  were  likely  to  belong.  The  register 
he  kept  did  not  give  an  account  of  the  common  schools,  the 
prayer-meetings,  the  temperance  organizations,  religious 
awakenings,  conversions,  or  churches  growing  out  of  the 
schools.  Mr.  Corey  computed  that  in  these  schools  during 
the  twenty-five  years  more  than  3,000,000  children  had  re- 
ceived religious  instruction  and  over  300,000  teachers  had  been 
engaged  in  giving  it.  In  face  of  the  fact  that  owing  to  the 
drifting  of  immigration,  some  of  these  schools  were  discon- 
tinued or  consolidated  with  others  in  their  neighborhood,  the 
mortality  among  them  has  not  been  greater  than  the  per- 
centage of  mortality  in  frontier  churches  under  control  of  the 
various  denominations. 

Students  as  Missionaries. — The  popular  enthusiasm  aroused 
by  the  Mississippi  Valley  Enterprise  naturally  began  to  wane 
in  a  few  years.  Funds  for  its  support  were  more  difficult  to 
secure.  Bountiful  as  were  the  gifts,  amounting  to  $120,000 
and  upward,  the  Society  expended  several  thousand  dollars 
in  excess  of  that  sum  (and  of  all  contributions)  in  carrying  out 
its  resolution.  To  continue  the  work  as  economically  as  pos- 
sible and  to  respond  to  calls  for  like  missionary  work  in  other 
fields,  the  Society  decided  to  employ  students  of  about  a 
dozen  different  denominations  from  about  thirty  colleges  and 
institutions  of  learning.  These  were  employed  during  their 
vacation,  which  occurred  chiefly  in  the  summer  time  and  when 
the  season  was  most  favorable  for  the  work  of  organizing  new 
schools  on  the  frontier.  Some  students  from  Gambier  College, 
Ohio,  were  employed  as  early  as  1833.1 

For  a  time  this  plan  aroused  new  enthusiasm.  The  churches 
perceived  that  the  students  gained  a  valuable  experience  and 
training  for  future  work,  usually  as  pastors  and  evangelists. 
Therefore  what  was  begun  as  an  experiment  was  continued, 
from  time  to  time,  not  only  before  our  Civil  War,  but  after  it, 
when  students  were  employed  during  vacations  to  aid  and 
supplement  the  work  of  the  permanent  missionary. 

Thus  in  1854  the  whole  number  of  missionaries  employed 
by  the  Society  for  the  year  was  322,  of  whom  237  were  theo- 
logical or  academic  students  who  devoted  their  vacations  to 
this  work.     The  next  year  the  Society  reported  324  mission- 

»  Report,  1852.  p.  42. 


224  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

aries  in  service,  of  whom  256  were  students  in  a  course  of 
preparation  for  the  gospel  ministry.  They  devoted  their 
vacations  of  from  one  to  four  months  to  this  work  at  a  season 
of  the  year  most  favorable  for  Sunday-school  missionary 
effort.  The  following  two  years  about  3G0  missionaries  were 
employed  in  twenty-five  different  states  and  territories,  the 
greater  part  of  whom  were  students. 

These  theological  and  college  students  were  employed  as 
missionaries  partly  for  economic  reasons,  as  already  stated. 
The  Union  was  further  influenced  to  continue  the  experiment 
because  of  the  educational  advantages  to  Christian  young 
men.  It  urged  the  friends  of  the  Society  to  welcome  their 
services  and  to  overlook  any  inexperience  in  the  workers  be- 
cause of  the  advantage  it  would  be  in  training  them  for  their 
life  work.  The  student  missionary  combined  the  various 
duties  of  exploring  destitute  neighborhoods,  organizing  new 
schools,  visiting  schools  already  in  existence  but  needing  to 
be  encouraged  and  strengthened,  providing  Sunday-school 
libraries  and  helps  to  teachers  where  none  were  at  hand,  and 
giving  information  to  the  people  generally  on  the.  principles 
and  benefits  of  the  Sunday-school  as  an  institution.  These 
zealous  young  workers  discovered  many  sights  and  scenes 
strange  to  them,  and  their  reports  presented  a  checkered  pic- 
ture of  the  moralcondition  of  communities  which  were  alike 
interesting  and,  sometimes,  humiliating  to  read.  The  students 
themselves  reported  positive  results  of  their  labors  in  the  reflex 
influence  exerted  upon  themselves  while  they  were  thus  pre- 
paring in  body,  mind,  and  spirit  for  the  responsibilities  of  the 
sacred  ministry. 

Eminent  professors  of  theology  commended  in  the  strong- 
est terms  this  kind  of  service  as  a  preparation  for  the  future 
usefulness  of  their  students.  The  thorough  business  methods 
and  careful  preparation  required  for  the  work,  the  tact  in 
visiting  from  house  to  house,  the  meeting  of  persons  in  various 
conditions  in  life,  and  with  all  sorts  of  prejudices  in  religion 
called  for  the  largest  practical  common-sense,  godliness, 
business  accuracy,  and  ability  to  sway  the  public  mind.  It 
tended  to  cultivate  these  qualities  in  the  student.  They  said : 
"The  young  student  who  goes  into  the  mountains  of  Virginia 
and  takes  a  hand-spike  and  heaves  with  the  log  rollers  in  order 


MISSIONARY  WORK  SYSTEMATIZED         225 

that  he  may  talk  Sunday-school  with  them,  or  plies  a  hoe  be- 
side the  farmer  on  the  Aroostook  [Maine]  for  the  same  pur- 
pose (and  this  was  actually  done)  will  know  something  be- 
sides books.  He  must  study  the  raw  material,  the  stuff  of 
which  churches  and  congregations  are  made,  and  must  deal 
with  men  as  a  student  fresh  from  the  schools  cannot  do." 
Some  distinguished  professors,  eminent  alike  for  learning  and 
intellectual  powers,  told  their  students  that  such  a  service 
would  be  worth  to  them  as  much  as  a  year  of  study. 

Moreover,  this  experience  did  more  than  prepare  them  to 
deal  with  practical  common-sense  menj  it  also  fitted  them 
for  more  successful  work  with  the  young.  Tt  is  little  wonder, 
therefore,  that  the  Union  and  its  friends  continued  this  form 
of  service  from  time  to  time  for  many  years.  It  had  its 
drawbacks,  however.  Not  the  least  of  them  was  the  fact 
that  these  young  students,  in  their  inexperience,  made  many 
mistakes  which  were  sometimes  fatal  to  the  success  of  a  Bible 
school.  Then,  too,  their  work  was  temporary,  lasting  only 
for  a  month  or  two,  and  in  a  field  where  often  there  was  no 
permanent  missionary  and  no  nearby  pastor  to  oversee  the 
feeble  schools  thus  started  after  the  student  left  his  field. 
Therefore  the  popular  enthusiasm  for  this  form  of  Sunday- 
school  extension  began  to  wane  in  spite  of  obvious  advantages 
to  the  student. 

Another  reason  for  the  decrease  of  this  form  of  service  was 
the  revival  of  voluntary  missionaries,  which  was  made  possi- 
ble and  practicable  in  consequence  of  the  organization  of  state 
and  county  Sunday-school  conventions  and  unions.  Through 
better  organization  a  more  comprehensive  system  of  exten- 
sion of  Sunday-schools  became  possible.  The  permanent  mis- 
sionary could  thus  find  a  larger  number  of  persons  who  were 
so  situated  that  they  could  give  a  part  of  their  time  besides 
Sunday  to  this  service,  and  thus  aid  him  in  organizing  and 
improving  Sunday-schools  in  the  country. 

A  significant  illustration  of  the  value  of  this  student  service 
is  the  experience  of  Jackson  G.  Coffing.  In  1849  he  was  a 
student  in  Oberlin  College,  earning  his  way  by  teaching  a 
country  district  school  in  Colerain,  Hamilton  County,  Ohio. 
He  also  had  organized  and  sustained  a  Sunday-school  there 
for  an  autumn  and  winter,  when  he  was  found  by  Superin- 


226  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

tendent  Chidlaw  and  employed  during  his  vacations  as  a 
student  missionary  at  a  dollar  a  day  and  expenses.  He 
worked  in  Ohio,  and  later  in  Indiana,  founding  twenty-five 
schools  and  distributing  five  hundred  dollars'  worth  of  litera- 
ture, besides  Bibles  and  Testaments,  in  communities  where 
there  was  a  meager  supply.  He  completed  a  college  course  at 
Marietta,  at  the  same  time  laboring  as  a  student  missionary 
in  the  Muskingum  Valley.  Again,  while  in  Union  Theo- 
logical Seminary,  New  York,  he  continued  to  earn  his  school- 
ing by  labors  in  Sunday-school  missions  in  that  city,  where  he 
discovered  and  rescued  an  orphan  waif  in  the  slums  of  Baxter 
Street,  New  York.  The  waif  was  a  little  girl  selling  candy  on 
the  streets,  having  a  home  with  an  aged  and  poor  woman 
in  a  cheerless  garret.  The  girl  was  placed  in  a  good  school,  as 
well  as  in  Sunday-school,  educated,  and  finally  returned  to  her 
lost  kindred  in  England  a  lovely,  intelligent  and  religious 
young  woman.  The  story  of  her  rescue  was  published  by  the 
Union — a  charming  biography,  entitled  Maria  Cheeseman, 
the  Candy  Girl — showing  the  value  of  missionary  labors  among 
the  outcast  and  friendless. 

The  inspiration  of  his  student  mission  work  led  Mr.  Cofnng 
to  become  a  foreign  missionary  in  Syria  under  the  American 
Board,  where  he  had  a  large  and  flourishing  church  at  Aintab 
and  a  Sunday-school  of  over  500  scholars.  While  on  his  way 
to  a  missionary  meeting  in  Mt.  Lebanon  he  was  mistaken  for 
an  English  tourist,  against  whom  a  bandit  had  a  grudge,  and 
was  instantly  killed.1 

Scores  of  these  student  missionaries  afterward  became  suc- 
cessful workers  for  the  Master  in  other  fields  as  pastors,  teach- 
ers and  educators. 

Student  missionaries  had  an  important  influence  in  ex- 
tending Sunday-schools  in  the  Mississippi  Valley  and  else- 
where. Many  of  their  schools  yielded  splendid  results. 
Thus  of  fifteen  schools  started  by  student  missionaries  from 
Gambier  College,  Ohio,  in  1833,  several  grew  into  churches. 
In  a  neighborhood  only  eight  miles  from  the  college  a  student 
missionary  formed  a  school  in  a  very  primitive  and  rough 
neighborhood,  established  a  prayer-meeting,  and  began  a 
Bible  study  service,  out  of  which  grew  a  church  organiza- 

»  B.  W.  Chidlaw,  Story  of  My  Life,  pp.  146-149. 


MISSIONARY  WORK  SYSTEMATIZED         227 

tion.  A  house  of  worship  was  erected  in  the  woods,  but  in 
the  center  of  the  settlement.  Twenty  years  later,  the  same 
student  officiated  as  minister  in  the  church  and  reported  that 
preaching  had  been  continued  from  the  first  founding  of  the 
school.1 

Again,  thirty-four  missionaries,  mostly  students,  formed  158 
new  schools  in  Virginia  in  1854,  with  989  teachers,  5,536  pupils, 
and  aided  171  other  schools  with  6,000  members,  and  put  in 
circulation,  by  gift  and  sale,  some  30,000  religious  books, 
which  reached  thousands  of  families,  in  many  of  which  relig- 
ious reading  was  scarcely  before  known.2 

Another  of  these  student  missionaries  found  the  people 
' 'log-rolling."  To  win  them,  he  took  off  his  coat  and  vest  and 
took  a  hand-spike  and  worked  with  them  all  day.  As  a  result 
he  founded  a  Sunday-school  which  was  supplied  with  eighteen 
dollars'  worth  of  books  for  a  library,  and  he  soon  after  suc- 
ceeded in  establishing  five  other  new  Sunday-schools  in  as 
many  destitute  settlements  in  that  region. 

During  one  year  156  students  were  employed,  the  time  given 
by  them  equalling  twenty-two  years,  two  hundred  and  two 
days.  They  organized  909  Sunday-schools  where  none  had 
existed,  and  supplied  1,545  other  schools.  They  secured  6,688 
teachers  and  36,917  pupils  to  enter  the  new  schools,  and  sup- 
plied more  than  2,000  schools  with  an  average  of  110  volumes 
each,  at  an  average  cost  to  the  Society  of  only  S3. 35  to  each 
school  formed  or  visited.3  Another  year  the  student  mis- 
sionaries organized  nearly  800  new  schools  and  placed  in  cir- 
culation, by  sale  and  gift,  over  150,000  volumes  of  religious 
literature. 

When  the  work  of  the  Society  became  more  extended  and 
was  put  upon  a  stricter  system,  it  appeared  to  many  commu- 
nities that  while  it  might  be  a  profitable  educational  ex- 
perience for  the  students  to  enter  into  this  temporary  mis- 
sionary work  in  the  frontier  fields,  it  was  not  as  satisfactory 
to  the  people.  The  permanent  missionary  often  found  that 
he  could  not  properly  care  for  so  many  new  organizations  be- 
yond those  that  he  would  himself  form,  and  the  new  schools 
often  languished  or  were  closed  from  lack  of  this  oversight. 
The  people  were  discouraged,  lost  heart,  and  it  was  much 

1  Report,  1852,  p.  42.  l  Report,  1855,  p.  54.  » Ibid.,  p.  15. 


228  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

more  difficult  to  revive  such  schools  than  it  was  to  start 
them  at  first.  Hence  it  was  not  deemed  wise  to  continue 
the  employment  of  student  missionaries,  except  in  special 
cases. 

Overcoming  Difficulties. — But  to  return  to  the  history  of  the 
progress  of  the  Mississippi  Valley  and  other  enterprises.  The 
financial  crisis  of  1837  well-nigh  suspended  all  mission  opera- 
tions on  a  large  scale  and  left  the  Union  heavily  in  debt,  as 
before  noted.  No  matter  how  forcible  or  frantic  its  appeals 
for  increase  of  funds,  the  financial  condition  of  the  country 
was  such  as  to  preclude  large  returns.  This  is  treated  under 
the  financial  features  of  the  Society's  work. 

The  lack  of  facilities  for.  transportation  was  another  hin- 
drance to  the  rapid  progress  of  Sunday-school  extension  in  the 
West  and  South  at  this  period.  Canals,  steamboat  fines  and 
railways  in  the  new  West  and  in  the  South  were  not  abundant 
as  now.  Thus  the  Rev.  Robert  Baird,  exploring  the  field  for 
the  Union  in  1833  and  1834,  required  many  months  to  make 
a  single  tour  of  observation  and  inquiry  through  a  few  states 
in  the  Valley  of  the  Mississippi  and  in  the  South.  -  He  traveled 
by  steamboat  and  stage — mostly  the  latter — sometimes  by 
private  conveyance.  A  similar  tour  could  now  easily  be  made 
in  less  than  as  many  weeks,  and  with  much  greater  comfort. 
Wagon  roads  were  rough,  when  there  were  any.  Often  the 
missionary  had  to  travel  on  foot  or  horseback,  following  trails 
or  bridle-paths.  This  made  the  work  of  establishing  new 
schools  in  new  communities  arduous  and  very  slow. 

The  work  was  further  retarded  by  the  difficulty  of  finding 
competent  persons  for  missionaries.  The  aim  was  to  secure 
them  on  the  field  where  the  work  was  to  be  done,  believing  that 
they  would  be  best  acquainted  with  the  conditions,  habits  and 
speech  of  the  people,  and  most  likely  to  succeed  in  winning 
them  to  these  new  enterprises.  But  this  was  often  found  im- 
possible; the  men  who  were  competent  were  not  there,  or,  if 
they  were  there,  they  were  unable  to  devote  their  lives  to  this 
service.  It  was  almost  equally  difficult  to  find  a  sufficient 
number  in  other  parts  of  the  country  who  were  properly 
qualified  and  willing  to  give  themselves  to  this  benevolent 
service,  at  any  compensation,  especially  at  the  small  one  the 
Society  could  afford. 


MISSIONARY  WORK  SYSTEMATIZED         229 

There  was  a  further  hindrance  to  the  progress  of  the  work, 
due  to  these  pioneer  settlers  penetrating  into  sections  remote 
from  the  few  lines  of  public  travel  and  transportation  to  be 
found  in  these  new  states  and  territories. 

All  these  difficulties  were  added  to  the  obvious  one  of  the 
diversity  of  each  community  or  settlement,  in  nationality, 
speech,  religion  and  education.  In  the  same  community  or 
settlement  were  families  so  diverse  in  habits  of  life  and  train- 
ing that  no  two  would  be  alike.  There  might  not  be  two 
families  with  religious  prejudices  of  the  same  kind.  Not  a  few 
of  them  were  found  to  have  drifted  away  from  older  civiliza- 
tion and  religious  influences  to  escape  the  restraints  of  religion. 
Adventurers,  the  lawless  and  the  outlaw,  and  all  classes  of 
persons  who  desired  to  escape  from  the  restraints  of  civiliza- 
tion— these  must  be  brought  into  co-operation  with  each  other 
and  persuaded  to  unite  in  Bible  service  and  in  the  study  of 
righteous  conduct  and  morals,  as  taught  in  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures. It  meant  a  revolution  in  the  lives  of  many  of  those  to 
whom  the  messengers  were  sent.  The  wonder  is  not  that  the 
progress  was  so  slow,  but  that  so  great  progress  was  made  in 
this  immense  task.  But  Christianity  was  compelled  to  tackle 
the  question,  or  to  confess  its  system  a  failure.  The  American 
Sunday-School  Union  offered  the  most  reasonable,  as  well  as 
practical,  basis  and  promise  of  success.  It  is  on  this  account 
that  so  many  philanthropists  and  Christian  people  rallied  to 
its  support  in  carrying  out  these  three  magnificent  enterprises; 
in  the  Valley  of  the  Mississippi,  in  the  South,  and  for  the 
world-wide  conquest  of  the  nations. 

In  the  face  of  these  formidable  difficulties,  it  is  not  remark- 
able that  the  progress  of  the  Society  was  at  varying  speed. 
At  one  time  it  would  seem  to  go  forward  with  leaps  and  bounds, 
as  at  the  beginning  of  the  Mississippi  Valley  Enterprise. 
Again  it  seemed  to  be  at  a  standstill,  or  almost  going  back- 
ward, as  in  the  crises  of  1837,  1857  and  during  the  Civil  War. 
As  a  great  river,  whose  current,  in  the  face  of  eddies  and  bends, 
really  is  flowing  majestically  on  to  the  ocean,  so  the  progress 
of  the  missionary  work  of  the  Union  went  steadily  forward 
in  the  face  of  many  financial  bends  and  denominational 
eddies. 


230  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 


PROGRESS    BY    PERIODS 

It  may  be  easier  for  the  reader  clearly  to  grasp  this  onward 
progress  when  it  is  divided,  say,  into  five  great  periods  of 
twenty  years  each. 

First  Period. — The  first  twenty  years  was  foundation  work. 
The  repeated  surveys  of  conditions  in  the  first  decade  sug- 
gested or  shaped  the  principles  upon  which  the  Society  was  to 
be  founded  and  conducted,  and  the  methods  to  be  pursued. 
In  the  second  decade  less  dependence  was  placed  than  in  the 
first,  upon  voluntary  effort  to  extend  Sunday-schools  in 
destitute  places.  Not  until  the  second  decade  was  it  clearly 
seen  by  the  friends  of  the  Society  that  a  paid  missionary 
force  was  necessary  even  to  make  such  voluntary  service 
efficient.  This  became  the  more  obvious  when  the  Society 
saw  the  magnitude  of  the  Mississippi  Valley  Enterprise — 
the  planting  of  Sunday-schools  in  ten  thousand  of  its  new 
settlements.  It  has  seemed  necessary,  therefore,  to  treat 
this  portion  of  the  history  of  the  Society  more  fully  than  the 
succeeding  periods.  For  eight  or  ten  years  that  enterprise, 
with  others,  was  vigorously  prosecuted,  as  has  been  already 
described. 

Second  Period. — In  the  second  period  of  twenty  years,  the 
Society  found  its  missionary  funds  inadequate  to  meet  its 
demands.  The  whole  country  was  financially  crippled  by 
the  crisis  of  1837.  Furthermore,  the  managers  also  learned 
from  experience  that  the  transient  visit  of  a  missionary  to 
start  a  school  was  not  adequate  for  its  maintenance;  that  the 
field  of  each  missionary  must  be  limited  so  that  he  could  have 
constant  oversight  of  the  schools  in  his  district.  This  called 
for  increased  expenditure  at  a  time  when  funds  were  dimin- 
ished. Thus  for  the  year  1837,  the  contributions  to  the 
Valley  Fund,  which  were  the  largest  missionary  gifts,  were 
$10,744,  while  the  contributions  to  the  General  Fund  were 
$15,832.  But  this  latter  fund  was  for  the  general  benevolent 
objects  of  the  Society,  and  not  specially  for  its  missionary  work. 
The  managers,  however,  felt  compelled  to  appropriate  sums 
from  this  General  Fund  to  sustain  its  missionaries.  This 
decrease  in  contributions  for  mission  work  continued  for 
several  succeeding  years,  so  that  for  nine  or  ten  years  fol- 


MISSIONARY  WORK  SYSTEMATIZED         231 

lowing  1830  the  average  receipts  for  the  Valley  mission  work 
were  about  S13;000  a  year,  or,  in  round  numbers,  $120,000, 
one-half  of  which  had  been  received  in  the  first  two  years. 
However,  this  condition  did  not  discourage  the  Society. 
The  managers  had  a  large  vision  which  may  be  fairly  indi- 
cated by  this  very  remarkable  prophecy  made  as  early  as  1839 : 

Nor  is  there  anything  extravagant  in  the  anticipation  that  at 
no  distant  day  an  uninterrupted  line  of  communication,  by  steam- 
boat and  railroad,  will  be  established  over  this  bright  sunset  land 
between  the  eastern  and  western  world,  by  way  of  Australia, 
Polynesia  and  the  Indian  Archipelago;  that  our  news  from  the 
Celestial  Empire  will  be  borne  to  us  upon  the  western  waters,  and 
thus  the  whole  earth  will  be  encompassed  by  a  settled  channel  of 
civilized,  peaceful,  Christian  intercourse. 

They  had  a  vision  of  cataclysms,  for  they  added: 

Revolutions  in  public  sentiment  and  political  institutions,  many 
and  mighty,  may  occur.  The  Church  of  the  redeemed  may  be 
rent,  and  broken,  and  tumbled  down.  If  the  Lord  will,  let  it  be 
so.  ...  To  the  Bible,  as  the  fountain  of  truth,  a  guilty 
world  must  still  come  for  light,  for  peace,  for  hope. 

Other  evidence  of  the  realization  of  their  vision  was  based 
upon  the  fundamental  principles  which  had  guided  the 
Society,  and  these  they  repeatedly  restated  to  be: 

First,  unity  of  Christian  forces ;  Second,  increasing  efficiency  in 
religious  instruction;  Third,  diffusion  of  knowledge;  Fourth,  the 
circulation  of  moral  and  religious  publications;  Fifth,  a  Sunday- 
school  wherever  there  is  a  needy  population. 

During  the  years  of  this  financial  depression  the  Society 
was  storing  up  wisdom  and  strength  relating  to  its  mission 
work  for  a  decided  advance  as  soon  as  the  Lord  should  open 
the  way.  This  is  fairly  indicated  by  the  clear  and  full  state- 
ment of  the  needs  of  the  work  and  of  the  country  as  they  saw 
them  in  1843.1  This  was  further  emphasized  by  a  restate- 
ment in  1844  of  the  origin  and  original  purpose  and  objects  of 
the  Society.2 

The  financial  depression  decreased  the  support  of  all  forms 
of  religious  effort,  and  drew  attention  to  the  possible  over- 
lapping of  much  of  that  work,  inducing  laymen  to  hint  that 
such  overlapping  ought  to  be  reduced  to  a  minimum.     This 

» Report,  1843,  p.  5,  ff.  *  Report,  1844,  pp.  11,  12. 


232  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

again  led  the  denominational  leaders  to  inquire  whether  funds 
were  not  going  from  members  of  their  churches  to  objects  not 
directly  in  support  of  the  work  of  their  respective  denomina- 
tions. 

As  the  American  Sunday-School  Union  did  not  form 
churches,  the  emphasis  in  its  work  was  laid  upon  the  broad, 
evangelical  truths  of  Christianity.  The  Society  avoided  pre- 
senting the  doctrines  which  divided  Christians,  teaching  mainly 
those  upon  which  they  were  united.  This  course  was  criti- 
cized from  the  first  by  certain  ecclesiastical  leaders.  The 
financial  crises  and  consequent  diminishing  income  simply 
increased  the  volume  and  sharpness  of  this  criticism  against 
the  Union.  It  was  even  insinuated  by  some  that  it  was  not 
altogether  sound  or  evangelical  in  the  conduct  of  its  mission 
work. 

In  view  of  these  repeated  charges  against  the  Society,  the 
Board  strongly,  clearly  and  vigorously  restated  the  evangelical 
basis  upon  which  it  was  founded  and  conducted:1 

As  Christian  laymen,  belonging  to  various  denominations,  we 
have  associated  for  the  purpose  of  endeavoring  to  establish  Sun- 
day-schools wherever  there  is  a  destitute  population.  .  .  . 
We  can  unite  to  teach  the  truth  that  Christ  taught,  and  as  plainly 
as  he  taught  it.  For,  be  it  always  remembered,  that  if  we  differ 
respecting  the  true  construction  of  some  of  "the  gracious  words 
that  proceeded  out  of  his  mouth,"  we  say  only  just  what  he  said, 
leaving  those  who  read  or  hear  to  judge  of  his  meaning.  .  .  . 
In  the  doctrines  of  the  supremacy  of  the  inspired  Scriptures,  as 
the  rule  of  faith  and  duty — the  lost  state  of  man  by  nature, 
and  his  exposure  to  endless  punishment  in  a  future  world — his  re- 
covery only  by  the  free,  sovereign  and  sustaining  grace  of  God, 
through  the  atonement  and  merits  of  a  divine  Redeemer,  and  by 
the  influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit — the  necessity  of  faith,  repent- 
ance and  holy  living,  with  an  open  confession  of  the  Saviour  be- 
fore men,  and  the  duty  of  complying  with  his  ordinances  of 
Baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper — in  these  doctrines  we  find  the 
essential  and  leading  truths  of  the  Christian  system;  in  the  re- 
ception of  these  doctrines  we  agree,  and  with  God's  help,  we  en- 
deavour to  teach  and  inculcate  them  on  all  whom  we  properly 
reach. 

This  they  stated  as  their  guide  in  all  their  missionary,  as 
well  as  other  work. 

The  Society  as  an  Educator. — In  financial  crises  supporters 
of  benevolent  schemes  inquire  more  rigidly  into  how  much  of 

»  Report,  1844,  pp.  56,  57. 


MISSIONARY  WORK  SYSTEMATIZED         233 

their  gifts  go  to  the  direct  work  intended,  and  how  much  to 
collecting,  administration  and  supervision.  The  collecting 
agencies  of  the  Union  did  not  escape  criticism  in  this  regard. 
It  was  not  a  new  point  to  the  managers  of  the  Society.  They 
had  carefully  taken  it  into  account  many  times  before  atten- 
tion was  called  to  it  by  outside  parties.  The  general  agents 
whom  they  employed  as  collectors  were  given  broader  duties 
than  simply  to  get  money.  This  they  pointed  out  distinctly 
by  saying  that  the  general  agent  properly  fitted  for  his  work 
"has  favorable  opportunities  to  enforce  the  great  principles  of 
religious  training  in  all  its  branches  and  departments,  and  to 
urge  motives  and  sanctions  which  are  of  universal  interest  and 
application."  The  amount  he  collected,  therefore,  was  not  a 
just  test  of  his  value.  If  he  failed  in  the  broader  work  assigned 
to  him  as  an  educator,  he  did  not  fulfil  the  design  nor  the  de- 
sire of  the  Board  in  commissioning  him.1  The  objection  to 
this  method  had  been  felt  nearly  a  score  of  years  earlier  at  a 
meeting  of  delegates  from  auxiliaries,  held  in  1828.  A  thor- 
ough examination  of  the  methods  pursued  by  the  Society  was 
made  by  the  delegates,  who  declared  their  "approval  of  the 
open  and  undisguised  manner  in  which  its  affairs  had  been 
conducted."  Dr.  Lyman  Beecher,  at  a  large  public  meeting 
that  year,  also  stated  that  the  Society's  work  was  "eminently 
adapted  to  promote  the  intellectual  and  moral  culture  of  the 
nation — to  perpetuate  our  republican  and  religious  institu- 
tions; and  to  reconcile  eminent  national  prosperity  with  moral 
purity  and  future  blessedness."2 

Literature  as  an  Aid  to  Missions. — From  the  first,  the 
Society  saw  the  necessity  of  combining  the  equipment  of 
schools  with  suitable  literature  and  the  employment  of  mis- 
sionaries. Repeatedly  the  managers  emphasized  the  neces- 
sity of  these  two  kindred  means — "building  up  schools  and 
supplying  them  with  books" — either  gratuitously  or  at  reduced 
rates,  in  order  to  make  the  work  efficient.3  They  called  at- 
tention to  the  increasing  number  of  places  where  neither 
churches  nor  ministers  could  be  sustained,  and  stated  that  in 
order  to  supply  such  places  it  required  a  distinct  and  separate 
agency,  like  paid  missionaries;  and  that,  to  be  successful  and 
efficient,  the  work  must  be  upon  the  principle  of  Christian 

i  Report,  1845,  p.  25.  »  Report,  1846,  p.  12.  » Report,  1848,  p.  32. 


234  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

unity,  and  to  be  lasting,  it  must  form  the  forces  in  each  com- 
munity into  a  compact  and  effective  organization  like  a 
Sunday-school.1 

In  several  closing  years  of  this  period  (to  1857)  the  Society 
emphasized  the  need  of  more  and  better  teachers,  calling  at- 
tention also  to  the  development  of  child  life,  the  rich  incidental 
results  of  religious  instruction,  and  of  beginning  that  work  with 
the  first  founding  of  communities.  St.  Louis,  Chicago,  and 
Cleveland  were  cited  as  illustrations  of  the  excellent  results  of 
mission  work.  One  year  the  student  missionaries  alone  organ- 
ized over  900  new  schools  in  destitute  places,  and  another 
year  nearly  800.  They  put  in  circulation  in  one  year  150,000 
volumes.  Their  employment  enabled  the  Society  to  do  a 
much  larger  work  with  a  diminished  income.  When  the  sec- 
retary of  the  student  work  resigned  in  1856,  it  was  temporarily 
merged  into  the  regular  and  permanent  missionary  service. 

The  financial  stress  also  hindered  the  Society  in  carrying 
out  its  supervision  of  the  great  districts  into  which  the  country 
had  been  divided.  Moreover,  the  Society  pointed  out  that 
the  public  schools  were  not  keeping  pace  with  the'demands  of 
the  country,  for  more  than  a  million  of  adult  freemen  in  the 
United  States  were  found  to  be  unable  to  read  or  write,  and 
this  number  was  annually  increasing.  Nor  was  this  ignorance 
wholly  due  to  foreign  immigration.  Nearly  three-fourths  of 
the  number  of  illiterates  were  American  born  and  over  twenty 
years  of  age.2  This  condition  increased  the  difficulty  in  its 
mission  work. 

Missionary  Conferences. — To  unify  the  field  operations  of 
the  Society  and  give  greater  efficiency  to  its  missionary  service, 
a  convention  of  the  secretaries  and  missionaries  was  held  in 
Cincinnati  late  in  1855.  Workers  from  twelve  states  and 
some  territories  were  present  to  collate  and  compare  their  ex- 
periences gained  on  widely  separated  fields  of  labor.  A  num- 
ber of  topics  connected  with  Sunday-school  missionary  work 
was  discussed,  giving  new  dignity,  importance  and  interest  to 
it.  The  missionaries  themselves  found  that  they  were  a  part 
of  a  great  system  for  the  evangelization  of  the  youth  of  our 
country.  This  gave  them  fresh  courage  and  increased  con- 
fidence, and  greater  intelligence  in  pursuing  their  work.     The 

I  Report,  1848,  pp.  49-51.  *  Report,  1855,  p.  24. 


MISSIONARY  WORK  SYSTEMATIZED         235 

missionaries  were  surprised  that  they  belonged  to  six  or  more 
different  denominations — a  fact  which  was  discovered  not  by 
their  views  of  the  work,  in  which  all  seemed  to  be  in  perfect 
accord,  but  by  a  "register"  of  the  various  representatives  at 
the  convention. 

As  an  indirect  result  of  this  convention,  the  Society  was 
confirmed  in  a  view  which  it  had  long  entertained  respecting 
one  phase  of  its  work:  "We  have  found  it  better  to  have  one 
man  for  the  whole  year  than  to  have  six  men  for  two  months 
each.  The  expenditure  for  traveling  expenses,  stock  of  books, 
freight,  postage,  etc.,  is  much  less."1  As  they  closed  this 
second  period  of  twenty  years  the  managers,  looking  back  over 
the  Society's  history,  marked  the  marvelous  increase  of  terri- 
tory added  to  the  country — seven  sovereign  states  with  787,000 
square  miles — and  an  equally  marvelous  increase  of  popula- 
tion, nearly  three-fold.2  No  wonder  they  could  not  supply 
Sunday-schools  fast  enough  to  keep  pace  with  such  a  marvel- 
ous increase  in  territory  and  population!  They  note  also  a 
deluge  of  poor  books  and  worse  literature  flooding  the  country 
at  that  date,  vastly  increasing  the  obstacles  in  the  way  of 
better  results. 

This  twenty-year  period  was  rich  in  the  development  of 
many  hundred  faithful,  humble,  and  efficient  missionaries. 
Their  names  and  their  achievements  fill  many  volumes  of  the 
records  of  the  Society,  but  their  greatest  achievements  will 
be  known  only  when  the  "books  are  opened"  and  the  awards 
made  by  the  Great  Judge.  From  among  these  workers  there 
emerged  some  Sunday-school  leaders  of  national  fame,  whose 
names  became  a  household  word;  such  men  as  A.  W.  Corey  in 
the  Valley  of  the  Mississippi,  B.  W.  Chidlaw  in  Ohio,  John 
McCullagh  of  Kentucky  and  the  South,  and  Stephen  Paxson  of 
Illinois.  Nor  can  the  less  conspicuous  but  not  less  important 
work  of  a  trained  educator — John  Adams,  LL.D. — be  omitted. 
He  devoted  nearly  ten  years  of  the  ripest  part  of  his  life  to 
establishing  and  maintaining  Union  Sunday-schools  in  the 
then  needy  portion  of  the  state  of  Illinois.  His  biographer 
says  that  as  an  educator  he  had  had  under  his  care  and  in- 
spired over  4,000  students.3     As  a  missionary  of  the  American 

1  Report,  1857,  p.  45.  2  Ibid.,  p.  8. 

2  Dr.  Adams  was  principal  of  Phillips  Academy,  Andover,  Massachusetts,  for  many 
years  and  was  the  father  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  William  Adams  of  New  York. 


236  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

Sunday-School  Union  he  organized  322  Sunday-schools,  having 
2,519  teachers  and  16,083  scholars.  His  presence  was  a  bene- 
diction. He  was  known  and  revered  over  the  whole  state  as 
"Father"  Adams.  Wherever  he  went  children  and  grown  peo- 
ple crowded  round  him  to  look  up  into  his  reverent  face,  to 
hear  his  simple  anecdotes,  and  receive  the  books  and  papers 
which  his  old  buggy  always  contained.  He  was  a  never-failing 
source  of  helpfulness  and  inspiration  to  younger  missionaries. 
He  had  a  keen  eye  for  character  underneath  a  rough  exterior, 
and  discovered  Stephen  Paxson  and  recommended  him  as  a 
missionary  to  the  American  Sunday-School  Union. 

Another  remarkable  leader,  of  a  different  type,  was  Lonn 
B.  Tousley,  "The  Children's  Orator,"  whose  work  is  noted  in 
another  section. 

Thus  this  period  of  mission  work  developed  men  of  vision 
on  the  field  as  well  as  men  of  vision  among  the  founders  and 
managers  of  the  Society. 

Methods  of  Administration. — The  managers  of  the  Union 
early  perceived  that  to  accomplish  the  objects  they  had  in  view 
would  require  many  and  varied  forms  of  effort,  so  many  and  so 
varied  that  some  division  of  labor  was  absolutely  necessary. 
Therefore,  to  secure  efficiency,  economy,  and  success  some 
managers  were  given  special  oversight  of  the  production  and 
publishing  of  books,  papers,  tracts,  and  literature  requisite 
for  Sunday-schools.  Other  managers  studied  and  matured 
better  methods  for  organizing,  conducting  and  teaching  such 
schools  and  for  promoting  their  formation  in  villages  and  com- 
munities throughout  the  country.  Another  group  of  man- 
agers considered  special  ways  for  securing  funds  in  this 
benevolent  work  and  in  the  distribution  of  literature,  keeping 
account  of  the  Society's  widening  operations. 

Thus  were  developed  various  special  and  standing  com- 
mittees on  publication,  business,  missions,  finance,  etc.,  repre- 
senting some  of  the  principal  branches  of  the  operations  of  the 
Society.  The  methods  of  administration  necessarily  varied 
with  the  changing  conditions  of  the  country  and  with  the 
varied  experiences  the  managers  themselves  gained  in  the 
progress  of  the  work.  Effectively  to  concentrate  the  efforts 
of  Christians  upon  the  promotion  of  Bible  study  in  our  Bible 
schools  required  the  cultivation  of  Christian  unity  and  charity. 


MISSIONARY  WORK  SYSTEMATIZED         237 

Nor  could  a  Sunday-school  be  efficient  without  proper  litera- 
ture.    Here,  then,  was  their  first  work. 

Starting  with  the  best  equipment  they  could  obtain,  they 
next  sought  to  extend  the  Sunday-school  movement  by  volun- 
tary effort,  by  local  unions,  by  circulars,  tracts  and  pamphlets 
setting  forth  the  advantages  of  Bible  study,  and,  later,  by  ap- 
pointing experienced  persons  to  present  the  value,  objects  and 
methods  of  Sunday-schools  to  Christian  assemblies  in  all 
parts  of  the  country. 

The  multiplied  calls  for  information  from  all  sides  on  the 
methods  of  forming  and  conducting  Sunday-schools  satisfied 
the  managers  that  trained  persons  must  be  secured  to  give 
efficiency,  even  to  those  workers  who  were  willing  to  volunteer 
to  organize  schools,  but  knew  not  how  to  do  it.  When  such 
persons  were  found,  they  could  not  give  their  entire  time  to 
this  service  without  support.  This  led  to  the  employment  of 
agents  and  missionaries,  in  some  sense  experts,  who  were  paid 
for  that  service.  The  experiment  began  in  1821,  but  not  until 
March,  1825,  did  the  Board  of  Managers  assign  the  special 
oversight  of  the  extension  work  to  a  Committee  on  Missions, 
as  they  had  already  assigned  a  similar  special  service  to  a 
Committee  on  Publication. 

In  1826  the  Board  of  Officers  and  Managers  appointed  a 
standing  Committee  on  Missions  to  "seek  out  persons  well 
qualified  for  Sunday-school  missionaries,  whose  duty  it  shall 
be  to  visit  and  establish  Sunday-schools,  organize  Sunday- 
school  unions,  and  promote  the  objects  of  this  institution." 
This  committee  was  to  make  plain  to  the  missionaries  the 
objects  of  their  appointment,  instruct  them  in  their  duties,  fix 
their  compensation,  designate  their  fields  of  labor,  and  report 
monthly  to  the  Board.1 

In  1830  the  title  of  this  committee  was  changed  to  Com- 
mittee on  Missions  and  Agencies,  with  five  members,  and  in 
addition  to  the  duties  before  recited  they  were  further  re- 
quired "to  devise  plans  and,  as  far  as  practicable,  execute 
them  with  the  consent  of  the  Board,  for  increasing  the  funds 
of  the  Society."  They  were  also  to  direct  "the  labors  of  the 
General  Agent,  and  appoint  all  subordinate  agents,  whose 
special  duty  it  shall  be  to  raise  funds  for  the  benefit  of  the 

1  Minute*  of  the  Board,  June,  1826,  pp.  82-93.     By-Laws,  1826  to  1830. 


238  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

Union.  They  shall  also  instruct  them  in  their  duties,  desig- 
nate their  fields  of  labor,  fix  their  compensation,  and  have 
charge  of  this  department  of  business."1 

In  1835  the  Committee  on  Missions  and  Agencies  was  dis- 
continued, and  its  duties  were  distributed  to  other  committees 
or  transferred  to  an  Executive  Committee.  This  ''Executive 
Committee  shall  have  the  control  of  every  department  of  the 
Society's  business  not  delegated  to  any  other  committee.  .  .  . 
All  letters  received  and  copies  of  all  letters  written  during  the 
recess  [of  the  Board]  shall  be  laid  before  the  Executive  Com- 
mittee at  each  meeting,  together  with  the  Minute  Books, 
papers,  etc.,  of  all  the  standing  committees."2 

In  large  districts  of  the  country,  from  1835  for  a  time,  the 
missionaries  and  agents  were  under  some  special  direction  of 
a  local  board  or  agency  in  those  respective  districts.  Thus 
there  was  a  Western  Agency  of  the  Society  at  Cincinnati, 
another  in  New  York,  and  some  elsewhere.  A  committee  of 
the  New  York  Agency  had  "in  charge  all  the  agents  and  mis- 
sionaries appointed  by  the  American  Sunday-School  Union 
for  this  region.  They  shall  superintend  the  correspondence 
with  them  and  report  to  the  Board  in  a  condensed  form  all 
important  and  interesting  facts  which  it  contains.  It  shall  be 
their  steady  aim  to  procure  the  establishment  of  a  Sunday- 
school  in  every  common  school  district  within  our  bounds,  and 
to  bring  the  friends  of  Zion  to  a  constant  and  perpetual  sup- 
port of  the  Sunday-school  cause."3 

But  from  June,  1835  until  1840  nominations  of  agents  and 
missionaries  were  made  by  or  through  the  Executive  Committee 
to  the  Board,  and  differences  relating  to  their  management  and 
conduct  were  adjusted  in  a  similar  way,  when  approved  by  the 
Board. 

The  general  correspondence  of  the  Society  on  missions,  as 
on  its  other  affairs,  was  conducted  by  the  corresponding 
secretary  from  the  Home  Office,  aided  by  Mr.  John  Hall,  who 
was  for  a  time  recording  secretary  of  the  Executive  Com- 
mittee and  also  engaged  in  revising  and  editing  question 
books  and  lessons  for  the  Union. 

In  1840  marked  changes  were  made  affecting  the  admin- 

1  Constitution  and  By-Laws,  1830,  p.  6.  *  Minutes  and  By-Laws,  June,  1835. 

*  By-Laws,  New  York  Board  of  Agency  of  the  American  Sunday-School  Union,  1835, 
p.  9. 


MISSIONARY  WORK  SYSTEMATIZED         239 

istration  in  mission  work.  The  Executive  Committee  was 
discontinued;  the  two  standing  committees  being  then  the 
Committee  of  Publication  and  the  Committee  on  Accounts. 
For  ten  years  or  more,  from  1840,  student  and  permanent 
missionaries  and  agents  were  nominated  to  the  Society  in 
various  ways.  Sometimes  they  appear  to  have  come  from  a 
board  of  agencies  in  one  of  the  districts  where  there  was  such 
an  advisory  board  in  connection  with  the  Union,  as  in  New 
York,  Cincinnati,  and  elsewhere.  Nominations  also  came 
through  the  corresponding  secretary  in  Philadelphia  and 
through  the  Committee  on  Publication.  Special  donations 
of  publications  were  also  made  through  the  same  committee 
until  1844,  when  a  special  Committee  on  Donations  was  ap- 
pointed and  that  became  a  standing  committee  in  1846. 
This  committee  acted  upon  all  applications  for  donations  of 
books  and  reported  to  the  Board.  It  does  not  appear  to 
have  been  charged  with  nominating  or  recommending  mis- 
sionaries or  agents  or  directing  their  labors  in  any  special  way 
other  than  in  the  matter  of  gratuitously  distributing  publica- 
tions of  the  Society. 

Early  in  1855  the  existing  division  of  duties  among  the 
managers  came  up  for  consideration,  and  out  of  a  lengthy 
discussion,  continuing  through  some  months,  emerged  a  new 
adjustment  of  the  administration  in  mission  work.  The 
Committee  on  Donations  was  discontinued  and  a  Committee 
on  Missions  and  Agencies,  similar  to  that  appointed  in  1835, 
was  revived.  It  was  instructed  to  "supervise  and  direct  the 
missionaries  and  [field]  agents,"  nominate  them  for  appoint- 
ment and  designate  their  duties  and  compensation.  It  was 
also  to  make  grants  of  books  to  Sunday-schools  to  a  limited 
amount,  and  to  have  "the  services  of  two  secretaries,' '  viz., 
"the  Corresponding  Secretary  who  shall  be  ex-officio  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Committee,  and  a  Secretary  of  Missions  to  be  ap- 
pointed by  the  Board  of  Managers."1 

But  in  1858  a  fresh  examination  into  collections  and  ex- 
penses of  collecting  agents  induced  the  managers  to  abandon 
"the  collecting  system  as  such."  In  consequence  of  this  ac- 
tion, therefore,  the  title  of  the  committee  was  changed  to 
"Committee  on  Missions"  early  in  1859.     The  book  of  in- 

1  Minutes  of  the  Board,  February  to  June,  1855. 


240  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

structions  to  missionaries  was  revised  as  early  as  July,  1858, 
because  of  these  changes. 

But  the  crushing  debt  of  the  Society,  elsewhere  described  (see 
Finances,  p.  320),  necessarily  hampered  and  seriously  modified 
the  management  in  mission  work.  All  the  operations  of  the 
Society  were  for  some  time  subject  to  the  sanction  of  a  com- 
mittee of  its  creditors  and  a  special  committee  of  the  Society. 
These  committees  were  in  sympathy  with  the  mission  work 
and  endeavored  to  avoid  serious  interference  with  its  prosecu- 
tion. Moreover,  the  diverging  views  existing  among  the 
managers  led  to  criticisms  upon  the  conduct  of  the  mission 
work,  yet  all  favored  its  maintenance. 

During  the  struggles,  controversies  and  financial  troubles, 
the  management  in  mission  work  underwent  many  changes 
in  common  with  all  other  operations  of  the  Union.  The 
secretary  of  missions,  the  treasurer,  editor  of  periodicals,  and 
some  managers  resigned,  and  new  officers  and  managers  were 
elected  in  their  places.  These  changes  in  the  administra- 
tion brought  harmony  in  the  Society's  councils  and  increased 
the  confidence  of  the  public  in  its  work. 

The  division  of  labor  among  the  managers  was  readjusted. 
The  Committee  on  Missions  was  required  to  "nominate  to 
the  Board  all  persons  who  are  to  be  employed  in  the  Mis- 
sionary Department  except  the  secretary  of  missions,"  to 
designate  "their  duties  and  compensations,  and  direct  and 
control  their  labors."  The  secretary  of  missions  "shall  under 
the  direction  of  the  Committee  conduct  the  correspondence 
and  superintend  all  matters  relating  to  the  collection  of 
funds  for  the  missionary  work  of  the  Society  and  the  labors  of 
all  persons  employed  by  the  Missionary  Department  at  home 
and  abroad." 

The  work  of  the  Committee  on  Missions  was  supplemented 
by  a  special  Committee  on  Finance  which  later  became  a 
standing  committee.  The  duties  of  this  Committee  were  "to 
devise  and  report  to  the  Board  such  new  plans  and  measures 
for  increasing  the  Society's  funds  for  missionary  purposes  as 
they  shall  deem  expedient  and  execute  and  carry  out  such  as 
the  Board  may  adopt."1 

The  Committee  on  Missions  aimed  to  conduct  the  mission 

l  By-Laws,  1861,  pp.  7.  8;  1867,  pp.  7,  8. 


MISSIONARY  WORK  SYSTEMATIZED         241 

Work  in  accord  with  what  was  now  clearly  the  sense  of  the 
managers — not  of  necessity  to  do  a  bigger  work,  but  to  do  a 
good  work  by  better  methods  and  with  the  greatest  economy 
consistent  with  efficiency.  In  promoting  this  end  they  were 
fortunate  in  securing  the  services,  as  secretary,  of  a  business 
man  who  had  charge  also  of  a  successful  mission  Sunday- 
school.  But  the  breaking  out  of  the  Civil  War  seriously  inter- 
fered not  only  with  the  prosecution  of  the  mission  work,  but 
more  seriously  with  obtaining  adequate  support  for  it.  Under 
these  circumstances  the  work  was  maintained  only  by  a  con- 
stant struggle,  and  even  then  there  was  a  succession  of  disap- 
pointments resulting  from  a  yearly  excess  of  expenditures. 
The  Committee  on  Missions,  with  their  best  efforts,  failed  to 
comply  with  the  requirements  of  the  Board,  that  "each  depart- 
ment of  work  should  pay  its  own  expenses." 

But  this  dark  and  stormy  period  of  the  history  was  not 
without  some  sunshine,  as  will  elsewhere  appear.  The  wish 
of  the  managers  to  have  more  full  information,  so  as  to  give 
more  intelligent  direction  to  its  mission  and  to  other  branches 
of  its  operations,  was  carried  out,  and  culminated  in  1880,  in 
a  supreme  effort  to  remove  the  entire  indebtedness,  and  secure 
adequate  capital  for  the  Society.  An  Executive  Committee, 
consisting  of  the  executive  heads  of  the  three  branches  of  its 
work — the  editorial  secretary  (Edwin  W.  Rice),  the  treasurer 
(Richard  Ashhurst),  and  the  secretary  of  missions  (Maurice 
A.  Wurts  and  later  Dr.  J.  M.  Crowell) — was  placed  in  charge 
of  all  the  business  of  the  Society,  which  modified  in  some 
respects  the  administration  in  mission  work,  materially  in- 
creasing and  enlarging  it.  For  that  committee,  in  its  plan 
to  remove  the  debt  and  increase  the  capital,  proposed  a  re- 
trenchment in  publications,  but  no  retrenchment  or  inter- 
ference with  the  current  mission  work.  It  further  suggested 
the  full  enforcement  of  the  "no  debt"  policy  which  had  been 
repeatedly  approved,  but  never  carried  out.  The  Society 
therefore  authorized  the  statement  that  "in  receiving  funds 
to  liquidate  the  debt  it  was  under  a  pledge  hereafter  not  to 
incur  indebtedness."  Of  course  this  pledge  applied  to  its 
mission  work  as  to  all  other  forms  of  its  work.  How  the  ex- 
penses in  the  mission  work  could  be  properly  forecasted  a  year 
ahead  had  already  been  pointed  out  by  the  chairman  of  this 


242  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

Executive  Committee  (as  stated  in  another  section  of  the 
history). 

"No  debt"  Policy. — Some  feared  that  the  announcement 
of  the  "no  debt"  policy  would  increase  the  difficulty  of 
getting  contributions  to  the  mission  work — a  fear  which 
proved  to  be  without  foundation.  In  fact,  so  far  from  a  de- 
crease, there  followed  a  decided  increase  of  the  gifts  for  this 
purpose.  The  records  show  that  in  the  ten  years  following  the 
announcement  of  the  "no  debt"  policy  during  which  the 
efforts  to  remove  the  debt  continued  and  were  successful,  the 
contributions  to  the  current  mission  work  more  than  doubled. 

Moreover,  the  measures  proposed  by  the  Executive  Com- 
mittee had  the  hearty  concurrence  of  Dr.  Samuel  Ashhurst, 
chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Missions  for  twenty-five  years. 
He  declared,  "The  managers  have  uniformly  held  that  the 
work  of  the  Union  is  one,  and  that  all  its  operations,  whether 
publication,  financial  or  missionary,  were  integral  parts  of 
one  organism,  working  heartily  for  a  common  purpose." 
This  statement  was  approved  by  the  Society.  .4  He  further 
said  that  it  was  in  harmony  with  this  view  that  the  Executive 
Committee,  consisting  of  the  representative  officer  from  each 
of  the  three  branches  of  the  Society's  operations,  was  ap- 
pointed, and  added,  "The  numerous  special  gifts,  amounting 
within  the  past  ten  or  fifteen  years  to  the  munificent  sum  of 
$250,000  or  more,  have  all  come  from  friends  in  Philadelphia, 
New  York  and  vicinity,  in  addition  to  their  gifts  to  current 
benevolent  work;  and  these  gifts  were  made  after  a  pledge  or 
clear  understanding  that  the  Society  would  avoid  running 
into  debt."1  The  then  secretary  of  missions,  Rev.  James  M. 
Crowell,  D.D.,  was  equally  emphatic  in  his  advocacy  of  these 
measures. 

The  work  of  the  Executive  Committee  from  1880  to  1908 
was  so  important  and  helpful  that  the  Board  decided  to  add 
to  its  standing  committees  an  Executive  Committeee  consist- 
ing of  the  chairmen  of  the  Committees  on  Publication,  Missions, 
and  Finance,  and  two  managers  from  the  Board.  The  powers 
of  this  Committee  were  broad:  "They  shall  have,  unless 
otherwise  provided,  general  management  and  direction  of  all 
the  Society's  affairs,  subject  to  the  approval  of  the  Board, 

«  Report,  189G,  pp.  8,  9. 


MISSIONARY  WORK  SYSTEMATIZED         243 

.  .  .  suggest  ways  and  means  whereby  its  work  and  useful- 
ness may  be  increased  and  developed,  .  .  .  require  a  monthly 
report  from  the  Committee  on  Publication,  the  Committee 
on  Missions,  the  Committee  on  Finance,  the  treasurer,  and 
such  other  employees  as  they  may  deem  advisable."1 

Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  this  Executive  Committee  with  its 
broader  scope  was  charged  with  the  duty  of  increasing  and 
developing  the  Society's  efficiency  in  all  its  operations.  The 
evident  purpose  of  this  action  is  in  harmony  with  the  views 
of  the  managers  uniformly  held  as  before  stated,  that  in  all  its 
operations  the  work  of  the  Union  is  one. 

The  tendency  of  the  administration  in  the  present  century, 
in  view  of  the  changed  conditions  of  the  field  and  of  the 
character  of  the  Society's  work,  has  been  to  increase  the 
number  of  districts  into  which  the  United  States  has  been  di- 
vided, with  a  superintendent  in  each  district,  as  more  likely 
to  secure  greater  efficiency  and  closer  supervision.  It  pro- 
vides also  the  means  for  more  definite  information  with  regard 
to  the  needs  of  each  district  and  the  progress  made  in  meet- 
ing those  needs. 

Secretary  of  Missions. — Previous  to  1853  the  Union  had  no 
officer  with  this  title.  The  missionary  correspondence  ap- 
pears to  have  been  in  charge  of  the  corresponding  secretary, 
shared  for  a  brief  period  of  the  early  Executive  Committee 
(1835  to  1840)  by  John  Hall,  the  secretary  of  that  com- 
mittee, who  acted  with  the  corresponding  secretary. 

Student  missionaries  also  were  employed  by  a  special  field 
or  traveling  secretary,  a  position  held  by  the  Rev.  Wm.  E. 
Boardman  and  by  the  Rev.  R.  B.  Westbrook.  The  Com- 
mittee of  Publication  had  suggested  in  1851  the  appointment 
of  a  secretary  for  the  Missionary  Department — a  suggestion 
which  does  not  appear  to  have  been  finally  adopted  until 
1853,  when  the  Rev.  J.  W.  Dulles,  D.D.,  was  placed  in  charge  \ 
of  the  missionary  correspondence,  the  corresponding  secre-  y 
tary  still  noting  the  receipts  and  expenditures  of  the  Society.2 

In  1856  the  Rev.  R.  B.  Westbrook,  D.D.,  who  had  served 
the  Society  in  student  and  field  work,  was  appointed  secretary 
of  missions,  which  office  he  held  until  January,  1861,  when  he 

»  By-Laws,  1909,  1910,  1913. 

*  Minutes,  October,  1851,  1853;  Report,  1854,  p.  23. 


244  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

was  succeeded  by  Maurice  A.  Wurts.  Since  that  date  the 
secretary  of  missions  has  been  ex-officio  secretary  of  the  Com- 
mittee on  Missions  and  under  its  direction  has  charge  of  the 
correspondence  with  the  missionaries  and  all  matters  relating 
to  the  labors  of  persons  employed  by  the  Missionary  Depart- 
ment. Of  course,  all  such  acts  are  subject  to  the  approval 
of  the  Board. 

Mr.  Wurts  continued  as  secretary  until  1881,  aided  by  the 
Rev.  Edwin  W.  Rice,  who  was  assistiant  secretary  of  mis- 
sions from  1871  for  upward  of  twenty-five  years.  From  1881, 
owing  to  the  protracted  illness  of  Secretary  Wurts,  L.  Milton 
Marsh  was  acting  secretary  until  after  the  death  of  Mr. 
Wurts  in  1883,  when  the  Society  chose  the  Rev.  James  M. 
Crowell,  D.D.,  secretary  of  missions.  Dr.  Crowell  rendered 
faithful  and  efficient  service  for  twenty-five  years.  Jeffer- 
son M.  Andrews  followed  in  1908  for  a  brief  period,  until  his 
sudden  death,  and  he,  in  turn,  was  succeeded  (in  1911)  by 
the  Rev.  George  P.  Williams,  D.D.  Thus  the  Society  has 
been  served  by  six  secretaries  of  missions  during  the  period 
from  1855  to  1917;  the  longest  service  so  far  rendered  being 
that  of  the  genial  Dr.  Crowell. 

The  invested  funds  of  the  Union  for  mission  and  benevo- 
lent work  are  under  the  special  supervision  of  the  Committee 
on  Finance,  which  '  'shall  also  devise  and  report  to  the  Board 
such  new  plans  and  measures  for  increasing  the  Society's 
funds  as  they  shall  deem  expedient,  and  execute  and  carry  out 
such  as  the  Board  may  adopt."1 

For  the  decade  from  1850  to  1860  it  is  proper  to  note  that 
student  missionaries  often  received  their  commissions  from 
the  field  or  traveling  secretary  and  made  their  reports  to  the 
district  agent  for  the  region  where  they  labored.  They  had 
little  or  no  correspondence  with  the  home  or  central  office  at 
Philadelphia.  The  writer  of  this  history  well  remembers 
that  this  was  the  case  in  1854  when  he  served  the  Society  as 
student  missionary  in  upper  Canada,  and  also  in  1856  when 
his  field  of  labor  was  in  Wisconsin. 

Third  Period  (1857-1877).— The  third  twenty-year  period 
(1857  to  1877)  was  the  stormiest  in  the  Society's  history. 
It  began  in  a  moral  earthquake  due  to  the  unfaithfulness  of 

i  By-Laws,  1913. 


MISSIONARY  WORK  SYSTEMATIZED         245 

a  leading  and  long-trusted  secretary.     The  whole  country,  . 
also,  was  swept  by  a  financial  tornado  threatening  the  ruin  of 
business  and  benevolent  enterprises,  and  wrecking  the  per- 
sonal plans  and  hopes  of  multitudes  who  were  forced  to  seek 
ways  to  extricate  themselves.     A  great  temptation  came  to 
the  secretary,  as  his  personal  investments  were  in  peril.     'Tor 
a  third  of  a  century  this  officer  had  been  entrusted  with  the 
general  oversight  of  the  Society's  business,  including  its  money 
transactions."     [Brief  Statement,  p.  3.]     In  this  capacity  he 
had  charge  of  the  Society's  credit.     In  its  earlier  years  all  his 
transactions  were  made  on  a  cash  basis.     "In  the  course  of 
time,"  the  managers  say,   "and  chiefly  on  account  of  the 
advances  made  for  the  support  of  missionaries  and  the  gratuitous 
distribution  of  books,  it  was  found  necessary  to  obtain  credit."1 
Drafts  were  drawn  on  the  Union  by  parties  furnishing  mate- 
rials or  doing  work,  which  were  accepted  by  this  officer,  and 
these  drafts  were  negotiated  in  the  market,  the  proceeds  being 
returned  to  the  secretary,  whose  duty  it  was  to  turn  them 
over  to  the  treasurer.     In  the  embarrassed  condition  of  his 
personal  affairs  here  was  his  temptation.     He  caused  drafts 
to  be  issued  and  no  record  made  of  them  on  the  books  of  the 
Society,  so  the  proceeds  were  appropriated  to  his  personal 
use.     "Unqualified  confidence  was  reposed  in  his  integrity" 
for  thirty  years,  but  distrust  of  his  faithfulness  was  awakened 
by  the  maturity  of  one  or  two  drafts  or  acceptances  in  1857 
which  did  not  appear  upon  the  Society's  books.2    An  investiga- 
tion revealed  that  he  had  used  the  Society's  credit  for  private 
purposes  to  a  very  large  extent  (about  $88,000). 3    Although 
he  confessed  his  wrong  and  made  restitution  so  far  as  he  was 
able  (about  $15,691),  yet  this  did  not  prevent  a  partial  under- 
mining of  confidence  in  the  Society  by  the  public.     Fortu- 
nately it  was  not  believed  to  involve  the  loss  of  any  contribu- 
tions made  to  the  Society's  missionary  work.     For,  in  fact, 
the  large  sum  amounting  to  over  $76,000,  which  had  been 
already  expended  in  missionary  and  benevolent  work  in  ex- 
cess of  what  had  been  received  from  all  sources  for  its  support, 
was  the  money  in  peril.     To  provide  for  this  excess  in  mission 
and  benevolent  work  the  advances  already  noted  were  made, 
and  that,  in  turn,  required  the  Society  to  secure  credit  by  the 

»  Report,  1858,  p.  10.  2  Report,  1861,  p.  2.  *  Report,  1858,  p.  62. 


246  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

issue  of  drafts  and  notes.  Thus  the  managers  were  enabled 
to  say  that,  so  far  as  was  known,  no  contributions  made  by 
the  public  for  missionary  operations,  but  only  the  borrowed 
money  to  meet  the  excess,  had  been  lost  or  perverted.  That 
the  institution  itself  might  not  seriously  suffer,  the  managers 
and  a  few  friends  "personally  assumed  the  whole  of  the 
[supposed]  loss  ($35,000) l  which  these  fraudulent  transactions 
involved."2     (See  further  facts  under  Finances,  p.  319.) 

The  embarrassment  to  the  missionary  work  was  increased 
by  a  falling  off  in  benevolent  receipts,  as  compared  with  the 
previous  year,  of  over  $12,000.  The  managers  expressed  great 
thankfulness  that  the  decrease  was  no  larger,  considering  the 
extraordinary  derangement  of  the  financial  affairs  of  the 
country.3  Less  than  half  of  the  receipts  for  the  year  came 
from  churches,  about  one-third  from  individuals,  and  the 
remainder  from  Sunday-schools  and  the  mission  fields. 

Thus  the  missionary  work  of  that  year  was  prosecuted  "as 
extensively  as  the  very  limited  means  would  justify."  The 
Board  proposed  to  expend  in  the  support  of  missionaries  and 
in  the  gratuitous  distribution  of  books  "as  much  money  as 
may  be  received  or  pledged  for  these  objects,  and  no  more."4 
In  reducing  expenses  the  Union  decided  to  abandon  collect- 
ing agencies.  Serious  doubts  had  arisen  respecting  the 
wisdom  of  this  form  of  securing  its  funds.  "Careful  analysis 
of  facts  and  figures  and  an  obviously  increasing  dissatisfac- 
tion with  this  plan  of  raising  money  for  benevolent  purposes, 
led  the  Society  to  resolve  upon  its  total  abandoment."  In 
taking  this  action  the  Board  stated  that  it  would  be  difficult, 
if  not  impossible,  to  secure  a  more  efficient  corps  of  laborers, 
and  the  decision  had  been  reached  from  the  conviction  that 
the  amount  of  money  received  through  these  agencies  would 
not  justify  the  large  discount  for  expenses.5 

1  $35,000  was  the  net  actual  loss,  as  estimated;  thus: 

Total  spurious  obligations $88,042.27 

Taken  up  by  others $  4,177.15 

Secured  by  real  estate  (McDowell) 33,173.98 

Restitution  by  Porter 15,691.14         53,042.27 

Leaving  the  actual  estimated  loss 835,000.00 

The  real  estate  taken  as  security  at  $33,173.98  was  subsequently  sold  for  Sin, 908.28. 
Dissatisfaction  in  the  Board  caused  some  of  the  subscribers  to  the  $35,000  to  be 
released,  so  that  the  Society  did  not  realize  the  whole  amount.  Later,  these  losses  were 
made  up  in  other  ways. 

part,  1858,  p.  12.  'Ibid.,  p.  14. 

*  Ibid.,  p.  21.  *  Report,  1860,  p.  28. 


MISSIONARY  WORK  SYSTEMATIZED         247 

The  Society  reserved  to  itself  the  propriety  of  employing 
its  secretaries,  superintendents,  and  missionaries  to  make 
collections  when  consistent  with  their  other  duties,  but  this 
collecting  work  on  their  part  would  be  entirely  incidental  and 
in  addition  to  their  chief  duties,  so  that  they  were  not  prop- 
erly to  be  regarded  as  mere  collecting  agents.1  This  view, 
however,  was  not  general.  The  New  York  Evangelist  voiced 
the  opinion  of  some  of  the  people  in  saying,  'The  stream  of 
benevolence  will  not  continue  to  flow  without  somebody  to 
watch  its  secret  springs.  Much  of  the  clamor  against  agents 
has  been  raised  by  mere  selfishness  and  parsimony.  Many 
who  are  misers  at  heart  have  made  an  excuse  not  to  give  be- 
cause so  much  of  their  contributions  would  go  to  agents." 
But  the  managers,  after  carefully  considering  the  matter,  put 
confidence  in  the  Christian  public  and  decided  to  throw  the 
claims  of  the  Union  and  its  support  upon  the  generosity  of  the 
people. 

To  impress  its  claims  more  forcibly  at  this  time  it  called 
attention  anew  to  the  value  of  Union  Sunday-schools  to  the 
churches.  It  claimed  that  the  Sunday-school  was  the  pioneer 
of  the  church,  and  printed  a  tract  collating  evidences  in  proof 
of  this  statement.  Thus  one  minister,  a  missionary  of  the 
Society  for  twenty  years,  gave  a  list  of  fifty  churches  that  had 
grown  out  of  Union  Sunday-schools  organized  by  himself  or 
his  associates.  Another  reported  forty  churches  following 
the  Union  Sunday-schools  in  his  field.  And  still  a  third,  well 
qualified  to  judge  from  his  records,  gave  it  as  his  opinion  that 
eight-tenths  of  the  churches  in  the  Valley  of  the  Mississippi, 
organized  in  the  previous  fifteen  years,  had  grown  out  of 
Sunday-schools  first  established  upon  the  union  principle. 

But  even  if  some  of  the  Union  schools  did  not  grow  into 
churches,  would  not  the  fact  of  bringing  thousands  of  children 
under  Sunday-school  instruction,  and  leading  them  to  the 
belief  and  practice  of  the  duties  of  religion  as  held  by  evangel- 
ical denominations  be  helpful  to  all  denominations  and  be  a 
great  gain  to  the  cause  of  Christ?2 

Moreover,  in  printing  these  appeals  for  missionary  funds, 
the  Union  had  repeatedly  emphasized  the  need  of  money  for 
distributing  its  literature;  for  it  said,  "The  missionary  and  the 

»  Report,  1858,  p.  19.  Report,  1846,  p.  24. 


248  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

living  teacher  would  avail  little  without  the  silent  teaching  of 
the  printed  page.  The  sound  of  the  living  voice  impresses 
strongly  while  it  lasts;  but  it  soon  dies  away  on  the  air.  The 
printed  page  remains  in  the  house  after  the  missionary  and 
the  teacher  have  gone.  ...  It  is  there  to  teach,  not  for  an 
hour  on  Sunday  merely,  but  all  the  week  through."1  Im- 
pressed with  the  value  of  this  combined  agency,  the  Society 
now  issued  the  Sunday-School  Times,  a  folio  weekly  teachers' 
journal  and  family  paper,  similar  to  The  Sunday-School  Journal 
of  1831. 

The  Civil  War. — The  financial  stringency  throughout  the 
country  forced  the  Society  to  study  the  greatest  economy  in  its 
missionary  and  benevolent  work  and  in  theory  to  adopt  the 
policy  of  "no  debt" — a  theory  which  it  was  not  able,  unfor- 
tunately, at  that  time  to  put  into  practice,  but  which  was  done 
later,  as  already  stated.  Among  the  many  obstacles  to  main- 
taining a  "no  debt"  policy,  besides  the  temporarily  divided 
views  of  the  managers  of  the  Society  itself,  was  the  tense 
anxiety  and  bitter  feeling  between  the  North  and  the  South 
arising  out  of  the  existence  of  slavery.  So  wide  was  the  differ- 
ence, and  so  tense  was  this  strain,  that  several  of  the  Southern 
States  seceded  from  the  Union  and  formed  the  Confederacy. 
This  brought  on  the  terrible  and  bloody  Civil  War  between  the 
North  and  the  South.  All  communication  between  the  two 
sections  (the  states  that  remained  in  the  Union  and  the  states 
that  formed  the  Confederacy)  was  suspended,  or  destroyed, 
the  Society's  missionaries  were  cut  off  from  the  home  office, 
and  their  work  rendered  impossible  in  the  South.  Havoc,  if 
not  impending  ruin,  also  threatened  all  the  Society's  activities 
in  the  North.  It  called  for  wisdom,  patience,  and  great  self- 
sacrifice  to  readjust  the  mission  work,  even  throughout  the 
Northern  states,  under  the  devastating  and  destructive  war 
spirit  which  swept  over  the  whole  country. 

It  was  obvious  at  once  that  the  homes  throughout  the 
country  from  which  the  stalwart  young  men  had  gone,  leav- 
ing women,  and  children,  and  dependents  behind,  would 
need  the  support  and  consolations  of  the  gospel  more  than 
ever  before.  The  little  churches  throughout  the  country  were 
sadly   crippled    and   often    compelled   to   intermit   services. 

«  Report,  1859,  p.  48. 


MISSIONARY  WORK  SYSTEMATIZED         249 

Thus  immense  responsibilities  were  thrown  upon  the  mis- 
sionaries of  the  American  Sunday-School  Union.  The  calls 
for  their  services  to  keep  alive  and  encourage  these  little  cen- 
ters of  religious  life  throughout  the  country  were  multiplied 
many  fold.  Not  a  few  of  these  missionaries  were  Christian 
patriots  and  felt  constrained  to  respond  to  the  call  of  the 
North  to  save  the  Union,  and  in  the  South  to  defend  the 
Confederacy  as  citizens  of  that  section  All  the  resources  of 
the  country  were  strained  to  meet  the  demands  and  emergen- 
cies created  by  the  war.  Contributions  which  had  been  counted 
as  certain  for  the  support  of  mission  work  suddenly  ceased,  or 
were  greatly  diminished.  The  Society  could  not  appoint  new 
missionaries;  it  could  not  pay  those  already  in  commission. 
The  managers  trembled  as  pay-day  approached. 

Self-Denial  of  Workers. — But  tense  as  was  their  strain,  their 
abiding  faith  in  God  supported  them  in  the  gigantic  work  of 
bringing  the  moral  and  religious  forces  to  bear  upon  the  prob- 
lem before  them.  They  said,  "This  grand  principle  must  rule 
from  the  cradle  to  the  grave."  Their  hopefulness  was  well 
expressed  in  this  sentence,  "Had  we  been  assured  at  the 
beginning  of  the  fiscal  year  [1862]  that  our  sales  and  contri- 
butions would  be  half  what  they  were  in  the  preceding  year, 
we  should  have  been  relieved  of  much  anxiety,  but  we  have 
done  far  better  than  that — the  diminution  of  our  sales  being 
only  about  thirty  per  cent,  and  of  our  contributions  twenty- 
three  per  cent."  They  ascribed  this  result  to  the  inherent 
vigor  of  the  institution,  to  the  depth  and  extent  of  the  good 
will  of  the  public,  and  to  their  implicit  trust  in  God  that  he 
would  put  it  into  the  hearts  of  his  people  to  supply  their  wants. 
They  did  not  minimize  the  obstacles.  These  came  in  a 
three-fold  form:  (1)  A  large  diminution  of  the  accustomed 
receipts;  (2)  an  embarrassment  from  inability  to  meet  the 
wants  of  destitute  neighborhoods;  (3)  both  these  embarrass- 
ments grew  largely  out  of  the  unhappy  strife  desolating  the 
land.  In  two  states  alone,  where  the  Society  had  3,000  to 
4,000  schools,  contending  armies  swept  hither  and  thither, 
dissipating  many  and  destroying  their  libraries. 

The  call  for  missionary  service  was  so  urgent  that  the  mis- 
sionaries would  not  allow  the  Society  for  a  moment  to  enter- 
tain the  idea  of  abandoning  the  fields.     They  said,  "The  work 


250  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

must  go  forward";  "We  will  bear  each  other's  burdens";  "If 
a  further  reduction  becomes  absolutely  necessary,  make  it"; 
1  'We  will  go  without  tea,  coffee  and  other  luxuries." 

The  Society  appealed  to  Sunday-schools  and  had  particular 
gratification  in  the  generous  sympathy  and  the  liberal  dona- 
tions from  them,  as  well  as  from  societies,  churches  and  indi- 
viduals. Equally  gratifying  was  the  development  of  new 
workers  on  the  field.  The  war  had  depopulated  many  of  the 
rural  districts  of  their  male  inhabitants.  One  missionary 
from  Wisconsin  wrote,  "In  a  large  number  of  the  schools 
visited  there  was  not  a  male  officer  or  teacher — all  having 
gone  to  serve  their  country.  Devoted  women  have  engaged 
to  supply  their  places.  Indeed,  you  rarely  pass  a  farm  where 
noble  women  are  not  engaged  both  indoors  and  out  in  supply- 
ing the  place  of  men  who  have  gone  to  the  war."1 

In  the  face  of  these  terrible  and  bloody  struggles,  the 
managers  of  the  Society  and  its  workers  had  an  abiding  trust 
in  Almighty  God,  as  expressed  in  these  terms: 

"Clouds  and  darkness  have  at  times  surrounded  us,  but 
now,  as  we  review  the  way  wherein  he  has  led  us,  we  can  truly 
say,  'Hitherto  hath  the  Lord  helped  us.'  "2  The  managers  and 
friends  of  the  Society  were  encouraged  by  the  cheering  reports 
which  came  from  the  soldiers'  camps — from  the  Confederate 
warriors  in  grey,  as  well  as  from  the  Union  soldiers  in  blue. 
In  numberless  cases,  before  the  battle,  the  soldiers  in  these 
two  opposing  armies  turned  their  thoughts  toward  the  faith 
which  they  had  learned  in  the  little  country  Sunday-schools. 
Missionary  Childlaw,  who  became  a  chaplain,  testified: 

This  experience  afforded  me  a  new  standpoint  to  observe  the 
value  of  early  religious  education,  and  the  power  of  the  Sunday- 
school  with  its  divine  textbook,  its  religious  literature,  and  sound 
oral  instruction  in  affording  that  education.  .  .  .  Nearly 
every  Sunday-school  in  the  loyal  states  has  its  representatives  on 
the  tented  fields  of  our  country.  The  religious  element  in  the 
army  is  to  a  very  great  extent  the  exponent  of  Sunday-school 
labor  and  training.  .  .  .  The  men  that  gather  around  the 
camp-fires  at  the  close  of  the  day  and  sing  the  songs  of  Zion  were 
taught  to  sing  in  the  Sunday-school;  and  the  men  who  love  the 
Bible,  read,  mark  and  learn  its  precious  truths,  had  studied  the 
heavenly  tactics  in  the  Bible  school  at  home.  The  men  who 
encourage  and  co-operate  with  the  chaplain,  .  .  .  wait  upon 
God  in  the  camp  prayer-meeting,  and  whose  godly  lives  honor 

«  Reports,  1862,  1863,  p.  5.  *  Report,  1863,  p.  23. 


MISSIONARY  WORK  SYSTEMATIZED         251 

the  glorious  Gospel  of  the  Son  of  God,  have  been  blessed  with 
early  religious  training,  and  most  of  them  in  the  Sunday-school.1 

Superintendent  John  McCullagh,  whose  home  and  head- 
quarters were  in  Kentucky,  a  border  state  swept  alternately 
by  Confederate  and  Union  armies,  tried  to  carry  on  his 
Sunday-school  work  "as  though  peace  were  reigning."  The 
bitter  hate  and  strife  between  the  opposing  parties  was 
deadly;  neighbors  and  even  members  of  the  same  family,  on 
opposite  sides,  suspected  each  other  of  being  spies — and  the 
spy  received  no  mercy.  McCullagh's  tact  and  wisdom  re- 
tained the  goodwill  of  some  in  both  armies.  He  was  a  per- 
sonal friend  of  leading  officers,  Confederate  as  well  as  Union. 
This  personal  acquaintance  saved  him  from  several  serious 
mishaps  in  passing  through  the  lines  of  the  contending  armies. 

A  missionary  was  caught  and  carried  under  guard  to 
General  Morgan.  There  he  was  sharply  questioned  and  his 
story  of  proposing  to  found  a  Sunday-school  was  not  be- 
lieved until  he  showed  a  letter,  signed  by  the  Society's  secre- 
tary and  countersigned  by  John  McCullagh.  Morgan  recog- 
nized the  signature  as  that  of  his  friend  McCullagh,  but  com- 
pelled the  missionary  to  sing,  which  he  did  as  best  he  could 
with  officers  and  rough  soldiers  in  groups  leaning  on  their 
rifles  itching  to  shoot  him.  But  the  singing  convinced 
General  Morgan,  and  he  cried  out,  "This  man  is  all  right. 
Let  him  go."  So  marked  was  this  experience  during  the 
Civil  War,  that  on  the  border,  Christian  men  on  both  sides 
regarded  the  American  Sunday-School  Union  as  a  link  bind- 
ing the  North  and  South. 

Rehabilitation. — When  the  war  closed  the  Southern  States, 
impoverished  and  ruined,  were  in  need  of  help  of  every  kind. 
Conditions  were  sad  enough  in  the  North,  but,  following  those 
dark  days,  it  would  be  impossible  to  describe  the  state  of 
things  in  the  South.  The  freeing  of  4,000,000  slaves  added  to 
the  general  desolate  condition,  while  there  was  imperative 
need  for  the  restoration  of  churches  and  schools  destroyed  by 
the  war.  The  Society  was  called  on  to  furnish  literature  by 
the  10,000  volumes  to  the  people,  many  of  whom  were  home- 
less, heart-sick,  and  hungry  for  the  bread  of  life. 

»  Report,  1864,  pp.  19,  20. 


252  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

The  Society  responded  as  best  it  could  to  these  calls.  Its 
gratuitous  distribution  of  literature  for  the  five  years  imme- 
diately following  the  war  amounted  to  over  $71,000,  besides 
gifts  to  auxiliaries  of  upward  of  $20,000,  and  these  calls  con- 
tinued with  scarcely  any  diminution  for  an  entire  decade 
(1865  to  1875).  With  the  large  amount  previously  over- 
drawn in  its  mission  work,  the  reader  will  wonder  how  the 
Society  was  enabled  to  meet  these  demands.  For  just  pre- 
vious to  the  war  it  had  been  under  a  heavy  strain  to  satisfy 
its  creditors.  Indirectly,  the  war  was  a  blessing  in  disguise, 
for  it  brought  about  "the  suspension  of  payments,"  so  that  all 
creditors  deferred  collecting  their  claims  and  were  exceedingly 
patient  with  the  debtor  class.  Moreover,  the  call  for  the 
Society's  literature  during  the  war  to  supply  the  soldiers  in 
camps  and  hospitals  was  unexpectedly  large,  while  the  gener- 
osity of  the  people  scarcely  knew  any  bounds  in  providing 
comforts  for  the  soldiers.  Thus  the  sales  for  two  years,  end- 
ing with  March,  1865,  were  nearly  double  those  of  the  pre- 
vious two  years.  A  large  proportion  of  these*  sales  was 
evidently  to  supply  the  soldiers  in  camps  and  hospitals. 
This  gave  the  Society  more  ready  money,  though  the  profits 
on  the  books  were  small.  The  Society  thus  found  it  possible 
to  meet  its  obligations  for  large  interest  on  its  bonds  and 
loans  made  because  of  the  excessive  expenditure  before  the 
war,  amounting  in  four  years  to  over  $30,000.  It  was  also 
able  to  make  an  appropriation  of  about  $100,000  in  literature 
through  its  auxiliaries,  and  to  sustain  its  missionaries,  al- 
though the  entire  sum  donated  in  legacies  for  ten  years  (1855 
to  1865)  was  but  little  more  than  $530,000,  of  which  $100,000 
was  for  life  memberships  subject  to  yearly  grants  of  literature. 

It  is  almost  impossible  to  conceive  of  the  disheartening  and 
desolating  conditions  which  war  brings  unless  one  has  actually 
passed  through  the  experience.  Thousands  of  Sunday-schools, 
if  not  broken  up,  were  weakened  by  the  constant  loss  of  super- 
intendents and  teachers.  Thus  a  report  says,  "in  many  cases 
not  a  single  male  teacher  has  been  left."  Often  a  superin- 
tendent was  elected  to  supply  the  place  of  one  gone  to  the  war, 
when,  in  a  few  weeks,  the  post  was  again  vacant  from  the  same 
cause.  Then  there  was  an  insufficient  supply  of  library  books 
and  literature,  the  books  having  been  read  and  re-read  until 


MISSIONARY  WORK  SYSTEMATIZED         253 

the  scholars  were  tired  of  them.  The  want  of  papers  and 
elementary  books,  with  no  means  to  procure  them,  broke  all 
hope  of  further  effort;  then  the  missionary,  coming  with  a 
donation  of  needed  books  and  papers  and  words  of  encourage- 
ment, infused  new  life  into  the  school.  "Without  this  assist- 
ance many  of  these  schools  would  not  be  in  existence,"  and 
"this  is  a  success  for  which  we  have  reason  devoutly  to  thank 
God."1 

Chicago  Conference. — One  of  the  most  inspiring  events  in 
the  history  of  the  Society  during  this  period  following  the  war, 
was  the  convention  of  missionaries  and  workers  held  by  the 
authority  of  the  Board  of  Managers  in  Chicago  in  November, 
1866.  Sixty  missionaries  from  twenty-two  states  were  pres- 
ent. The  deliberations  were  characterized  by  great  earnest- 
ness, for  they  came  together  to  tell  what  they  knew,  what 
they  had  experienced,  and  what  God  had  given  them  to  see 
and  to  understand  concerning  the  progress  of  the  Kingdom  and 
the  blessings  of  the  gospel  in  the  country. 

It  was  particularly  helpful  in  promoting  efficiency  in  the 
mission  work  and  in  cheering  the  workers  as  they  consid- 
ered the  three-fold  character  of  the  operations  of  the  Society — 
its  work,  its  field,  and  its  ways  of  working.  They  were  pro- 
foundly impressed  that  its  work  was  of  God;  that  its  field  was 
the  entire  country.  This  impression  was  voiced  by  one  of 
its  oldest  missionaries,  "O  God!  write  it  in  letters  of  light  on 
our  hearts  that  we  may  plant  the  Sabbath-school  in  every 
destitute  neighborhood,  and  that  all  our  children  may  be 
taught  of  the  Lord." 

Teacher  Training. — Side  by  side  with  the  reconstruction  of 
Sunday-schools,  North  and  South,  after  the  war,  sprang  up 
also  a  new  emphasis  upon  the  training  of  teachers  for  giving 
more  efficient  instruction.  There  was  a  special  need  for  this 
immediately  after  the  war  because  of  the  lack  of  competent 
teachers,  or  any  teachers  at  all.  Thus  Sunday-school  insti- 
tutes and  normal  classes  had  been  started  in  various  parts  of 
the  land,  East  and  West,  as  elsewhere  noted  in  this  history. 
These  temporary  schools  of  instruction  for  teachers  were  wide- 
spread and  very  popular  during  the  last  half  of  this  period 
(1867  to  1877). 

»  Report,  18G3,  pp.  6,  7. 


254  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

Furthermore,  workers  in  the  field  were  also  impressed  with 
the  necessity  for  carefully  ascertaining  the  facts  respecting 
their  fields  in  order  to  plan  and  work  more  efficiently.  This 
led  to  a  simultaneous  canvass  or  survey  of  fields  in  several  dis- 
tricts by  townships  and  counties,  as  in  New  England  and 
Pennsylvania  and  in  the  Middle  West.  Each  set  of  workers 
was  inspired  to  this  service  without  knowing  that  those  in 
other  fields  were  doing  the  same.  Some  remarkable  dis- 
coveries were  made  by  these  careful  surveys.  Thus  in  New 
England,  in  four  counties  supposed  to  be  fully  supplied,  three 
townships  were  found  absolutely  without  any  Sunday-school 
and  twenty  townships  with  only  one  in  each.  In  one-third 
of  all  the  towns  there  was  a  lack  of  religious  instruction — 
two-thirds  of  the  children  not  being  in  Sunday-school.  In 
Pennsylvania,  a  survey  of  five  counties  revealed  three-fifths 
of  all  those  between  five  and  twenty  years  of  age  out  of  Sunday- 
school  all  the  year.  In  a  survey  in  the  Northwest,  in  eight 
counties,  some  of  the  best  in  Wisconsin  and  Minnesota,  three 
townships  having  4,000  population  were  found  without  any 
Sunday-school.1 

This  systematic  and  careful  information  respecting  the 
conditions  of  the  country  produced  immediate  improvement 
in  missionary  work.  The  marked  gains  reported  from  year 
to  year  would  have  been  much  more  hopeful  had  they  in- 
cluded the  number  of  conversions,  churches  grown  out  of 
schools,  church  buildings  erected,  and  other  influences  for  the 
betterment  of  communities,  difficult  to  put  into  statistics. 

Evidently  the  management  was  not  frightened  by  the  large 
increase  of  expenses  in  mission  work,  for,  in  addition  to  the 
indebtedness  the  Society  was  carrying  on  account  of  previous 
expenditures  and  to  the  interest  it  was  paying  on  loans  made 
therefor,  a  new  excess  of  missionary  expenditure  was  reported 
in  1868  of  over  $29,000,  and  in  the  following  two  years  of  over 
$21,000  more,  expended  in  that  branch  of  its  service  above 
what  was  received  from  the  public. 

Their  unbounded  faith  was  such  that  these  overdrafts  in 
benevolent  work  in  addition  to  their  great  indebtedness,  did 
not  discourage  them  from  fostering  an  agency  for  foreign 
work — that  is,  the  planting  of  Sunday-schools  in  Europe — 

Reports,  1864,  pp.  35-38;  18GC,  pp.  9-11,  46;  1868,  pp.  31-34. . 


MISSIONARY  WORK  SYSTEMATIZED         255 

through  Vice-President  Albert  Woodruff.1  Their  chief  pur- 
pose, however,  was  "to  bring  all  the  children  of  our  country 
to  Christianity  by  teaching  them  His  Word."  Indeed,  they 
were  sure  that  could  they  attain  to  this  end,  they  would  "ac- 
complish various  and  important  subordinate  ends."  They 
hoped  to  aid  in  making  good  citizens,  but  chiefly  good 
Christians,  that  they  may  "glorify  God  and  enjoy  him  for- 
ever."2 

This  pushing  forward  in  the  face  of  accumulated  debt  will 
not  be  so  great  a  marvel  when  we  recall  how  the  managers  be- 
lieved the  work  was  of  God,  that  his  grace  was  working  in 
them  and  prompted  them  to  labor  for  him,  and  that  his 
Spirit  imparted  the  wise  and  understanding  heart.  They 
were  obeying  the  command,  "Go,  teach."3 

Another  important  event  in  the  history  of  missionary  work 
in  the  latter  part  of  this  twenty-year  period  was  a  success- 
ful effort  to  bring  the  expenses  in  missionary  work  sub- 
stantially within  the  Society's  expected  income  year  by  year. 
Frequent  but  unavailing  efforts  to  do  this  had  been  made  be- 
fore. The  necessary  enlargement  of  the  mission  work  follow- 
ing the  war  increased  the  labors  of  the  secretary  of  missions. 
These  were  further  multiplied  by  the  desire  and  real  necessity 
for  fuller  information  in  respect  to  the  results  of  the  mission 
work,  not  only  in  a  careful  record  of  schools  founded  and  aided, 
but  also  in  other  direct  results,  such  as  the  number  of  Chris- 
tian conversions  in  those  schools,  the  number  of  churches 
growing  out  of  them,  and  the  families  supplied  with  gospel 
and  Christian  literature. 

A  Trained  Helper. — Properly  to  gather  and  classify  this  in- 
formation and  otherwise  to  aid  in  secretarial  work  in  Phila- 
delphia it  was  deemed  wise  to  look  for  some  person  having  a 
practical  missionary  experience  in  the  field,  which  had  not 
fallen  to  the  lot  of  the  secretary.  Moreover,  the  Society  re- 
quired an  experienced  and  competent  person  as  assistant  in 
editing  the  periodicals,  and  here  again  it  was  thought  that  one 
with  a  practical  knowledge  of  the  mission  field  would  be  valu- 
able. The  choice  fell  upon  one  who  had  been  in  the  Society's 
mission  work  in  the  Northwest  for  over  ten  years,  and  who  had 
also  been  successively  on  an  editorial  committee,   publish- 

1  Reports,  1870,  p.  72;  1875,  p.  30.         l  Report,  1870,  p.  75.         *  Report,  1872,  p.  4. 


256  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

ing  first  a  local  denominational  paper,  and  later  a  similar 
journal  representing  Sunday-school  and  Christian  association 
work.  This  was  the  Rev.  Edwin  W.  Rice,  then  superintend- 
ent of  the  Society's  work  in  Wisconsin  and  Minnesota.  He 
was  called  to  Philadelphia  in  the  double  position  of  assistant 
secretary  of  missions  and  assistant  editor  of  periodicals. 
Greatly  to  his  surprise  the  first  work  assigned  him,  soon  after 
reaching  Philadelphia,  was  to  solve  the  problem  of  why  the 
Society  had  closed  its  work  with  a  deficit,  year  by  year,  almost 
uniformly  for  the  past  sixty  odd  years.  Some  of  those  who 
were  interested  in  gathering  the  funds  for  this  work  thought 
there  must  be  "a  large  leak,"  but  no  leak  was  known  or  could 
be  discovered. 

It  was  said  that  only  as  many  missionaries  were  reap- 
pointed at  the  beginning  of  each  year  as  the  pledges  for  the 
support  of  the  missionary  work  would  warrant.  Whenever 
new  gifts  in  excess  of  these  pledges  were  made,  new  workers 
were  appointed.  Yet  a  yearly  deficit  occurred.  From  his  ex- 
perience in  his  own  district  along  these  fines  the  assistant 
secretary  suspected  that  the  deficit  was  probably  due  to  the 
pledges  never  being  fully  redeemed  in  cash.  A  careful  com- 
parison of  these  pledges  with  the  receipts  thereon,  year  by 
year  for  five  years,  proved  that  from  one  cause  or  another 
only  about  75  to  80  per  cent,  of  these  pledges  were  really 
paid,  causing  a  deficit  varying  from  $10,000  and  upward  a 
year.  As  it  was  found  easier  for  those  presenting  the  claims 
of  the  Society  to  gain  money  for  new  work  rather  than  for 
making  up  a  deficit,  it  was  decided  that  hereafter  missionaries 
should  be  appointed  only  up  to  about  80  per  cent,  of  the 
pledges  in  each  field. 

As  this  was  based  on  the  expenditures  and  receipts,  not  for 
one  year  but  for  a  series  of  j^ears,  indicating  whether  the  trend 
was  toward  an  increase  or  a  decrease  of  funds,  it  was  as  safe  a 
basis  for  projecting  the  work  of  any  year  as  are  the  tables  of 
life  insurance  companies.  The  plan  was  sharply  discussed 
and  disputed  for  a  time,  but  was  finally  adopted,  and  worked 
to  the  entire  satisfaction  of  the  managers. 

During  this  period  greater  care  was  taken  to  secure  and 
preserve  more  accurate  reports  in  regard  to  the  mission  work, 
in  respect  to  the  schools  formed  and  aided,  the  families  pro- 


MISSIONARY  WORK  SYSTEMATIZED         257 

vided  with  the  Scriptures  and  gospel  literature,  conversions, 
and  churches  resulting  from  the  work. 

Secretaries  Wurts  and  Rice  carefully  computed  some  results 
of  the  mission  work  of  the  American  Sunday-School  Union  for 
the  half  century  from  1824  to  1874.  Their  computation  was 
based  upon  the  written,  as  well  as  the  printed  reports,  so  far 
as  they  were  accessible.  They  found  that  for  some  years,  from 
1817  to  1824  and  1839  to  1845  inclusive,  no  accurate  record  of 
schools  founded  by  the  Union  had  been  preserved.  For  the 
remaining  forty-three  years  to  March  1,  1844,  there  had  been 
new  schools  organized,  57,799;  with  teachers,  386,242;  and 
pupils,  2,545,787.  Computing  the  seven  years  (1839-1845  in- 
clusive) at  the  average  of  five  hundred  schools  per  annum, 
with  six  teachers  and  thirty  scholars  in  each  school — which 
was  far  below  the  average  of  the  preceding  and  the  following 
years — and  adding  this  to  the  previous  statistics,  the  total 
result  to  1874  was:  new  schools  organized,  61,299;  teachers, 
407,242;  pupils,  2,650,787.1  Besides  this  the  records  showed 
that  the  Society  had  accomplished  a  vast  work  by  reviving  and 
aiding  schools  with  literature  in  87,291  cases,  with  a  member- 
ship of  647,959  teachers  and  4,842,768  pupils.  The  amount 
expended  in  missionary  operations  from  1824  to  1874  was 
$2,133,264.13,  of  which  about  $517,000  was  for  literature  to 
needy  schools  and  families.  The  total  value  of  the  Society's 
literature  circulated  by  sale  and  donation  for  those  years  was 
computed  at  about  $6,000,000. 

A  Jubilee. — In  1874  the  Society  had  a  Jubilee  Anniversary, 
it  being  the  fiftieth  year  of  its  operations  under  its  present 
name — the  American  Sunday-School  Union.  Besides  the 
celebration  in  Philadelphia,  a  special  Jubilee  Missionary 
Meeting  was  held  in  New  York,  in  the  Broadway  Tabernacle 
Church,  at  which  Vice-President  George  H.  Stuart  presided, 
and  some  of  the  missionaries  from  the  field  gave  thrilling  ac- 
counts of  the  remarkable  work  which  they  had  been  enabled 
to  do.  Among  them  were  Stephen  Paxson,  F.  G.  Ensign, 
John  McCullagh,  Martin  B.  Lewis  and  B.  W.  Chidlaw. 

The  chairman  noted  some  personal  incidents  in  presenting 

1  To  this  result  must  be  added  the  records  of  schools  from  1817  to  1824.  The  Sunday 
and  Adult  School  Union  reported,  in  connection  with  its  auxiliaries,  723  schools,  with 
7,300  teachers  and  46,619  "learners."  It  also  reported  fourteen  schools  in  Philadelphia 
not  in  connection  with  the  Union,  containing  162  teachers  and  1,230  "learners."  (Seventh 
Report,  Sunday  and  Adult  School  Union,  pp.  72  and  91.) 


258  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

these  pioneer  missionaries  to  the  audience  as  illustrating  the 
marvelous  grace  of  God.  Thus,  Mr.  Paxson  was  spoken  of  as 
a  man  of  strong  characteristics,  a  hatter,  who  earlier  in  life 
gave  part  of  his  time  to  the  teaching  of  dancing  in  primitive 
Western  neighborhoods.  But,  brought  into  Sunday-school  by 
his  daughter  and  accepting  the  Saviour,  under  divine  grace, 
the  way  was  opened  to  him  for  the  great  work  of  gathering 
thousands  of  children  into  Bible  schools.  Of  Mr.  Lewis  it 
was  announced  that  he  was  first  awakened  and  finally  con- 
verted to  the  truth  through  a  lay  sermon,  the  preacher  of 
which  was  a  vice-president,  Hon.  William  E.  Dodge,  then  on 
the  platform  and  privileged  to  hear  a  good  report  from  the 
convert.  And  Mr.  McCullagh  was  spoken  of  as  a  pupil  of 
Thomas  Chalmers,  and  a  veteran  Scotch  Sunday-school  mis- 
sionary from  the  South,  who  had  uninterruptedly  pursued  his 
work  even  during  the  Civil  War. 

Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  the  severe  experiences  of  this 
stormy  period  (1857  to  1877)  were  not  without  compensating 
blessings.  The  storms  helped  to  clear  the  air  and  gave  op- 
portunity for  the  reconstruction  of  the  missionary  work 
especially,  upon  an  improved  basis  with  more  efficient  meth- 
ods. The  struggles  and  the  storms  of  this  period  were  also  a 
severe  test  of  the  sublime  faith  of  the  managers  that  the 
work  was  of  God,  and  that  he  was  leading  them  by  a  way 
they  knew  not.  Confronted  again  and  again  by  obstacles 
that  to  the  business  mind  spelled  ruin,  and  over  which  there 
seemed  no  way  even  to  the  large  vision  of  the  managers  (ex- 
cept the  way  of  faith),  providential  deliverances,  marvelous 
even  in  their  eyes,  unexpectedly  appeared,  so  that  the  Society 
came  out  into  an  open  and  larger  field  of  service  year  by 
year. 

National  Leaders. — Among  Sunday-school  workers  in  the 
Society  who  attained  national  fame  in  this  period  was  Henry 
Clay  Trumbull.  His  varied  activities  began  in  revealing 
and  supplying  the  need  of  Sunday-school  mission  work  in  the 
New  England  States.  He  was  a  self-sacrificing  and  successful 
bearer  of  the  gospel  as  chaplain  to  the  soldiers.  He  attained 
national  and  world-wide  reputation  as  Normal  Secretary  by 
stimulating  to  great  activity  in  teacher  training,  by  contribut- 
ing widely  and  efficiently  to  the  success  of  the  National 


MISSIONARY  WORK  SYSTEMATIZED         259 

Sunday-School  Conventions,  and  by  advocating  the  Uniform 
Sunday-School  Lesson  system. 

Three  of  the  Society's  representatives  mentioned  in  the 
former  period — B.  W.  Chidlaw,  Stephen  Paxson  and  John 
McCullagh — continued  to  be  recognized  as  national  repre- 
sentatives of  the  Society,  and  to  guide  in  its  counsels  during 
this  period  with  singular  fidelity  and  success.  Nor  should 
the  eminent  services  of  Richard  G.  Pardee,  representing  the 
Society's  largest  auxiliary  (the  New  York  Sunday-School 
Union),  be  passed  without  mention  of  his  recognized  nation- 
wide service  in  Sunday-school  institutes  and  teacher  training. 
His  labors  extended  over  most  of  this  period  of  the  Society's 
history. 

Fourth  Period. — The  fourth  period  of  the  Union's  history 
(1877  to  1897)  was  remarkable  for  a  successful  struggle  to 
pay  its  debts  and  provide  an  adequate  capital.  It  was  con- 
spicuous for  a  steady  and  vigorous  growth  in  its  missionary 
work.  Moreover,  it  was  a  period  in  which  marvelous  progress 
was  made  in  promoting  the  spirit  of  co-operation  among  all 
Christians  in  extending  the  Kingdom  of  God. 

The  far-reaching  influence  of  the  International  Uniform 
Lessons  in  producing  this  result  amazed  and  delighted  the 
Christian  world.  This  system  of  uniform  Bible  study  was 
wide-spread,  general,  and  more  thorough  than  any  the  world 
had  ever  seen.  It  put  emphasis  upon  the  fundamental  truths 
of  our  common  Christianity,  and  not  upon  its  differences. 
It  exalted  the  essentials  rather  than  the  non-essentials  in 
Christian  doctrine.  Thus  it  led  Christians  to  perceive  the 
spirit  of  Christian  unity  and  of  brotherhood  which  should 
be  possessed  by  Christ's  disciples.  Furthermore,  this  Bible 
study  stimulated,  if  it  did  not  create,  a  new  era  in  biblical 
scholarship  and  criticism  in  which  the  foundations  of  Chris- 
tian truth  were  submitted  to  searching  examination.  Never 
before  in  the  history  of  Christianity  had  there  been  such  a 
concentration  of  learning,  scholarship,  and  criticism  upon  the 
Christian's  great  textbook,  the  Bible.  The  Bible  was  thrown 
into  the  crucible  of  criticism,  to  discover  any  possible  particle 
or  bit  of  alloy,  and  to  separate  it  from  what  was  thought  to  be 
pure  divine  revelation.  Many  of  the  faithful  looked  upon  this 
criticism  as  exceedingly  destructive,  tending  to  undermine  con- 


260  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

fidence  in  God's  word.  To  others  it  seemed  to  reveal  anew  the 
strength,  the  purity,  and  the  wisdom  of  God  in  that  revelation. 

Of  the  remarkable  popularity  of  the  Uniform  System  of 
Bible  Study  of  1872  and  later,  and  of  its  concentrating  the 
scholarship  of  the  world  upon  the  Bible  and  promoting  a  spirit 
of  Christianity,  special  mention  is  made  in  another  section  of 
this  history.  The  two  events  that  immediately  concern  the 
missionary  work  of  the  Society  in  this  period  are:  (1)  The 
struggle  to  pay  its  debts  and  provide  a  suitable  capital;  (2) 
the  remarkable  enlargement  and  vigorous  growth  of  that 
work.  To  the  record  of  these  events  we  now  address  our- 
selves. 

In  consequence  of  the  united  researches  and  suggestions 
of  Secretaries  Wurts  and  Rice,  the  Society  introduced  im- 
proved methods  of  administration,  and  a  more  complete  sys- 
tem of  reporting  and  recording  the  results  of  missionary 
labors.  For  several  years,  a  careful  analysis  of  the  resources, 
expenditures,  and  results  of  mission  work  had  been  made, 
year  by  year,  so  that  the  Society  was  enabled  to  forecast  with 
reasonable  certitude  the  probable  amount  of  contributions 
to  be  expected,  and  to  avoid  excess  of  expenditures  in  that 
work,  thus  placing  the  Society  upon  a  more  healthful  financial 
basis.1 

While  the  burden  of  suggesting  and  executing  the  plan  for 
extinguishing  the  debt  and  providing  adequate  capital  fell 
chiefly  upon  Dr.  Rice,  as  chairman  of  the  Executive  Committee, 
Dr.  Crowell,  the  secretary  of  missions  (after  the  death  of  Mr. 
Wurts),  contributed  in  large  measure  to  its  success  by  his 
wisdom  and  efficient  co-operation.  His  familiarity  with  the 
conduct  of  that  work,  combined  with  the  field  experience  of 
the  assistant  secretary — who  was  now  the  editor  and  chair- 
man of  that  committee — enabled  the  Society  to  carry  out  this 
financial  campaign,  not  only  without  interfering  with  the 
current  receipts  for  the  support  of  its  mission  work,  but  in 
such  a  manner  as  even  largely  to  increase  them. 

The  way  was  providentially  paved  for  this  effort  by  a  be- 
quest of  $100,000  from  the  John  C.  Green  estate  in  1877. 
The  disposition  of  much  of  this  estate  was  committed  to 
legatees.     They  were  induced  to  make  this  bequest  to  the 

•  Report,  18S2,  pp.  72,  73. 


MISSIONARY  WORK  SYSTEMATIZED         261 

Union  because  of  the  improved  system  of  administration  of 
that  work  and  a  wider  collation  of  its  results  which  was  pre- 
sented to  them  through  Robert  Lenox  Kennedy.  In  behalf 
of  the  legatees,  he  made  this  gift  on  condition  that  five-sixths 
of  the  income  should  be  devoted  to  the  support  of  missionaries 
and  to  the  furnishing  of  the  schools  they  should  found,  and 
one-sixth  to  aid  in  procuring  Sunday-school  literature  of  the 
highest  order  of  merit  germane  to  the  objects  of  the  American 
Sunday-School  Union. 

The  effort  to  liquidate  the  indebtedness  and  provide  capital 
continued  for  about  fifteen  years,  as  elsewhere  narrated. 
That  special  appeals  for  this  purpose  had  contributed  toward 
the  increase  of  current  receipts  for  missionary  work  was  evi- 
dent, as  those  receipts  more  than  doubled  during  that  period. 
Large  givers  investigated  the  great  work  the  Society  was  doing 
and  decided  that  it  was  worthy  of  their  largest  gifts.  Alex- 
ander Brown,  the  first  contributor  to  the  debt  by  a  gift  of 
$25,000,  soon  after  added  $15,000  more  to  found  the  "Raikes 
Fund,"  the  income  of  which  is  used  in  missionary  work. 

Thus  the  splendid  work  the  American  Sunday-School 
Union  was  accomplishing  in  the  religious  education  of  those  in 
the  otherwise  neglected  districts  of  our  country  commanded 
the  respect  and  support  of  large  givers  as  never  before.  The 
further  fact  that  the  Society  proposed  to  carry  forward  its 
work  on  the  "no  debt"  policy  also  strongly  appealed  to 
Christian  philanthropists  who  were  interested  in  large  finan- 
cial enterprises. 

The  Union  Sunday-School  a  Handmaid  of  the  Church. — 
The  managers  stated  anew  the  great  purpose  of  the  American 
Sunday-School  Union.  As  the  agent  of  all  the  churches,  its 
primary  aim  was  and  is  to  proclaim  salvation  and  to  promote 
the  betterment  of  the  thousands  of  places  in  the  country,  un- 
reached by  the  local  church.  Fresh  surveys  brought  out  needy 
fields  of  amazing  magnitude  in  this  work.  Following  the  war, 
there  were  millions  of  freedmen,  seventy  per  cent,  of  whom 
were  illiterate,  to  be  educated  in  morals  and  religion.  An 
immense  population  of  mountaineers  or  highlanders  in  the 
South  was  also  discovered  who  had  been  hitherto  neglected, 
and  sadly  needed  the  gospel.  Vast  regions  once  occupied  by 
Indians  were  being  opened  for  settlement  at  a  rate  before 


262  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

unknown.  It  was  reckoned  that  40,000  settlers  entered 
Oklahoma  in  one  day.1  The  calls  from  the  Pacific  Coast  for  a 
united  effort  to  present  the  gospel  to  communities  there  were 
multiplied.  Hundreds  of  settlers  on  islands  and  jutting  lands 
along  the  Atlantic  Coast  were  found  absolutely  without  any 
religious  services  whatever,  and  to  these  a  "Coast  Island 
Mission"  was  maintained  for  several  years.2  The  migrations 
from  the  older  to  the  newer  and  more  attractive  regions  of  the 
West  caused  rural  churches  to  be  closed  and  abandoned — over 
1,000  such  churches  were  reported  in  New  England,  and  a 
larger  number  in  some  of  the  states  of  the  Middle  West. 
This  opened  another  large  field  for  united  effort  by  the  Ameri- 
can Sunday-School  Union. 

Meanwhile  the  nation's  wealth  was  increasing  by  leaps  and 
bounds.  But  religion  occupied  neither  the  foremost  nor  the 
middlemost,  but  the  hindmost  place.  The  conditions  re- 
quired an  agency  which  expressed  the  united  spirit  and 
forces  of  all  the  churches  to  make  an  impression  upon  the 
materialism  of  the  age,  in  its  mad  pursuit  of  Wealth.  Cor- 
porations and  trusts  for  gain  grew  to  giant  proportions,  but 
none  looked  for  great,  federated,  religious  trusts.  The  little 
company  of  Sunday-school  missionaries  was  appalled,  but 
not  disheartened,  by  this  piling  up  of  vast  fields  of  labor. 
They  believed  the  work  was  of  God,  and  that  he  would  pro- 
vide. Their  singular  faith  and  courage,  and  their  hopeful- 
ness in  efforts  to  concentrate  all  Christians  and  philanthropists 
upon  their  work,  inspired  a  resolution  by  the  managers,  in 
1884,  "to  establish  and  maintain  a  Sunday-school  in  every 
needy  community  in  the  vast  territory  from  the  eastern  base 
of  the  Rocky  Mountains  to  the  Pacific."3 

This  large  faith  for  an  immense  task  commanded  the  at- 
tention of  the  secular  press  throughout  the  country.  In  the 
Middle  West,  The  Chicago  Tribune  declared  that  the  Union's 
successes  were  "a  volume  of  argument  for  the  unity  of  Chris- 
tian work.  The  real  results  in  the  conflicts  with  the  devil 
and  his  numerous  and  industrious  agents  must  be  accom- 
plished by  these  union  societies,  which  work  outside  the  inter- 
ests of  any  particular  denomination." 

The  New  York  Tribune  went  further  in  declaring  that  "the 

•  Report,  1893,  p.  11.  *  Report,  1882,  p.  68.  >  Report,  1884,  p.  7. 


MISSIONARY  WORK  SYSTEMATIZED         263 

hearty  work  of  the  American  Sunday-School  Union  for  one 
year,  in  striving  to  train  little  children  into  a  truthful  man- 
hood, into  temperate  devout  servants  of  Christ,  has  accom- 
plished more  actual  good  in  the  world,  and  has  helped  the 
progress  of  mankind  upward,  higher  than  all  the  doctrinal 
squabbles  or  fires  kindled  against  heresy  since  time  began."1 

From  time  to  time  other  journals  gave  similar  testimony, 
more  weighty  because  they  were  located  in  the  region  where 
the  largest  work  of  the  Society  had  been  accomplished. 
Moreover,  the  Society  was,  in  the  main,  successful  in  main- 
taining the  "no  debt"  policy.  Repeatedly  its  annual  re- 
ports note  a  prospective  shrinking  in  income  because  of  the 
financial  depression  in  the  country,  but  also  note  correspond- 
ing economy  or  retrenchment  in  expenditures.  While  they 
continued  to  emphasize  the  value  of  reaching  destitute  settle- 
ments by  new  organizations,  they  attached  great  importance 
to  sustaining  and  strengthening  those  that  had  already  been 
formed. 

Sunday-School  Evangelism. — Another  leading  feature  was 
increased  activity  in  evangelistic  campaigns  in  winter.  A 
marked  gain  in  this  direction  began  early  in  this  period.2 
Simultaneously  with  this,  greater  diligence  was  also  given  to 
searching  out  families  in  districts  remote  from  churches  and 
unreached  by  religious  influences,  and  to  providing  them 
with  tracts  and  religious  literature.  Thus  the  importance  of 
this  as  a  mission  agency  was  strongly  emphasized  over  and 
over  again.3  The  missionary  work  of  the  Society  grew,  in 
this  way,  strongly  intensive  as  well  as  extensive,  looking  to  the 
efficiency  of  each  existing  school  as  well  as  to  the  organizing 
of  new  schools  in  communities. 

This  increased  method  of  intensive  work  speedily  bore  rich 
fruit.  The  missionaries  began  to  report  hundreds  and  thou- 
sands of  conversions,  so  that  those  actually  reported  were 
5,000,  8,000,  10,000  a  year,  with  mention  of  multitudes  of 
places  where  those  who  confessed  Christ  were  neither  num- 
bered nor  reported,  so  that  it  is  quite  safe  to  say  that  from 
10,000  to  20,000  a  year  were  led  to  confess  Christ  in  the  rural 
communities  where  the  Union  schools  were  the  chief  agency 

«  Report,  1879,  p.  3,  cover.  »  Report,  1878,  p.  17. 

'Reports,  1881,  pp.  8-13;  1884,  p. 58;  1890,  p.  6;  1894,  p.  6. 


264  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

for  proclaiming  the  gospel.  As  a  natural  result,  likewise, 
churches  of  different  denominations  also  began  to  be  reported, 
following  these  evangelistic  campaigns.     (Appendix,  p.  474.) 

Bible  Supply. — The  United  States  Census  of  1880  reported 
about  10,000,000  families  in  the  nation.  From  a  wide  sur- 
vey by  missionaries  and  others,  it  appeared  that  one  family 
in  every  thirty  was  without  a  Bible,  four  out  of  five  being 
without  a  library  or  without  even  half  a  dozen  religious 
books.  This  survey  was  one  of  the  incentives  for  the  adoption 
of  the  resolution  (1884)  already  given.  The  great  number  of 
Christian  women  active  as  teachers  in  Sunday-schools,  and 
their  deep  interest  in  training  the  children,  caused  the  man- 
agers to  suggest  also  that  to  no  other  society  would  an  aux- 
iliary women's  organization  be  more  appropriate  than  to  the 
American  Sunday-School  Union.1 

Story  of  Mag. — The  serious  consequence  of  neglecting  one 
little  girl  was  strangely  enough  placed  in  the  same  report. 
The  story  of  "Mag,  the  Mother  of  Criminals,"  forcibly  illus- 
trates that  "an  ounce  of  prevention  is  better  than'a  pound  of 
cure."  Mag  had  no  education,  no  home,  but  became  the 
mother  of  a  long  line  of  criminals  and  paupers.  In  seventy- 
five  years  her  descendants  increased  to  the  number  of  about 
1,200,  of  whom  80  were  paupers,  140  criminals,  and  the  entire 
family  was  submerged  in  pauperism,  crime  and  insanity. 
The  neglect  of  that  one  little  girl  cost  the  state  of  New  York 
upward  of  $1,308,000 — a  sum  then  said  to  be  sufficient  to 
establish  about  65,000  Union  Bible  schools! 

Pastoral  Service. — The  gain  resulting  from  the  increased  at- 
tention to  intensive  mission  work  is  further  indicated  by  the 
fact  that  while  the  number  of  missionaries  employed  was 
scarcely  doubled  in  this  period  (1877  to  1897),  the  number  of 
families  reached  by  pastoral  visits  of  the  missionaries  for  re- 
ligious influence,  was  increased  over  six-fold.  The  average 
number  of  families  annually  reached  in  the  first  five  years  of 
this  period  was  about  16,000,  while  in  the  last  five  years  it 
was  about  95,000. 

Moreover,  during  this  period,  special  donations  of  the 
Society's  literature  were  made  in  particular  fields  not  in- 
cluded   in    missionary    reports.     Students    depending    upon 

•  Report,  1883,  p.  44. 


MISSIONARY  WORK  SYSTEMATIZED         265 

their  own  earnings  for  their  education  in  colleges  and  theo- 
logical schools  were  granted  over  20,000  volumes  in  one  year 
during  this  period,  and  28,000  volumes  in  another  year;  be- 
sides 38,000  volumes  given  to  supply  hospitals,  prisons, 
United  States  life-saving  stations,  and  forts.1  Special  evan- 
gelistic, winter  campaigns  were  also  conspicuous  modes  of 
missionary  effort  in  this  period.  Communities  unreached  by 
the  churches  were  found  needing  this  form  of  effort,  and 
multitudes  of  such  places  were  visited  with  showers  of  bless- 
ing.2 

In  consequence  of  these  evangelistic  campaigns,  the  Society 
began  to  take  special  note  of  the  churches  of  various  de- 
nominations which  followed  its  Sunday-school  efforts.  But, 
as  in  the  reports  of  conversions,  there  were  multitudes  of  in- 
stances unreported  except  in  a  very  general  way,  and  which 
could  not  be  enrolled  in  any  statistical  table.  Those  that 
were  reported  were  significant  as  indicating  the  increased 
efficiency  of  the  religious  work  done  by  the  Society.  Thus 
in  1893,  186  churches  were  noted  as  following  its  schools;  in 
1894,  105  churches  followed  in  one  district;  in  1895,  117 
churches  were  reported;  and  in  1896,  117  churches.  These 
reports  show  conclusively  that  all  evangelical  denominations 
were  reaping  the  harvest  sown  by  the  American  Sunday- 
School  Union,  although  the  Society  did  not  specially  under- 
take to  organize  churches  of  any  denomination. 

House-to-House  Work. — Those  whose  homes  are  within 
the  sound  of  the  church  bell  which  calls  them  to  service  four 
or  five  times  a  week  can  hardly  realize  what  the  pastoral 
visit  of  the  Sunday-school  missionary  means  to  homes  where 
the  church  bell  is  never  heard,  and  church  services  are  too  far 
away  to  be  attended.  Some  in  these  families  rarely  hear  a 
sermon  or  attend  a  church  service  from  one  year's  end  to  an- 
other and  lose  all  desire  for  the  comforts  of  the  gospel  except 
when  sickness  or  death  enters  the  home,  and  many  children 
have  never  heard  a  prayer.  To  these  isolated  and  secluded 
souls  the  Sunday-school  missionary  brings  the  message  of  the 
gospel  and  the  sense  of  the  nearness  of  God  to  them,  and 
leaves  an  appropriate  book  or  tract  to  remind  them  of  his 
visit  and  his  message  after  he  has  gone. 

I  Reports,  1884,  p.  58;  1894,  pp.  5,  6;  1891.       *  Reports,  1878,  p.  17;  1893,  p.  5,  etc. 


266  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

To  many  such  homes,  far  away  from  the  regular  services  and 
influences  of  the  church,  such  a  missionary  visit  is  a  benedic- 
tion, like  the  coming  of  an  angel  of  the  Lord.  When  we 
think  that  well-nigh  100,000  such  homes  were  reached  every 
year  in  this  period  and  nearly  200,000  yearly  in  the  next 
period,  and  that  in  each  of  these  homes  there  were  from  two 
to  ten  souls,  so  that  each  year  from  500,000  to  1,000,000 
individuals  received  a  personal  message  of  the  gospel  and  the 
personal  call  to  God,  the  blessed  influence  of  such  a  service 
can  only  be  estimated  by  the  recording  angel  above.  If  the 
Union  Sunday-school  missionaries  performed  no  other  service 
than  this,  it  would  be  well  worth  the  cost  of  their  time  and 
service. 

Briefly,  then,  the  special  features  characterizing  the  work  of 
this  period  were: 

(1)  Paying  the  Union's  debt  of  $266,000  and  beginning 
to  secure  funds,  the  income  of  which  might  tide  the 
Society's  work  over  years  of  financial  depression  or  other 
emergencies. 

(2)  The  successful  application  of  the  "no  debt"  policy. 

(3)  Increased  attention  to  intensive  as  well  as  extensive 
mission  work,  and  carrying  the  personal  message  of  the 
gospel  to  secluded  homes. 

(4)  Increased  evangelistic  campaigns  in  winter,  resulting 
in  rich  harvests  of  souls  brought  to  Christ. 

(5)  A  wider  recognition  of  Union  mission  work  by  Chris- 
tians of  all  faiths,  their  larger  gifts,  and  their  greater  sym- 
pathy and  prayers  for  its  success. 

SKETCHES   OF   PROMINENT   WORKERS 

Benjamin  Williams  Chidlaw,  D.D.  (1811-1892),  Missionary 
and  Superintendent  (1836-1892). 
Early  in  the  last  century  a  little  Welsh  boy  with  his  father 
embarked  on  a  sailing  vessel  for  America,  "The  land  of 
apples."  The  impulsive  young  lad  was  eager  to  make  the 
journey,  for  one  day  his  father  had  held  a  handkerchief  to  an 
eastern  breeze  and  said,  "A  fair  wind  now  to  take  people  to 
America,  where  there  is  no  king,  no  tithes;  where  poor  people 
can  get  farms,  and  apples  abound."  After  forty-seven  days 
on  the  ocean,  they  worked  their  way  by  sloop  up  the  Hudson, 


MISSIONARY  WORK  SYSTEMATIZED         267 

westward  by  wagon,  keel  boat  and  steamboat  to  Ohio,  settling 
in  a  log  cabin  in  the  wilderness.  The  father  soon  died  from 
fever.  The  brave  lad  hewed  out  a  home  in  the  woods  for  his 
mother,  and  with  his  axe  chopped  his  way  in  the  backwoods 
to  a  college  education,  graduating  at  Miami  University  in 
1833,  then  studying  theology  at  Oxford  (Ohio)  under  Dr.  J. 
W.  Scott,  the  father-in-law  of  President  Benjamin  Harrison. 

He  revisited  his  native  land  to  perfect  himself  in  the  Welsh 
language  and  returned  to  enter  upon  evangelistic  tours, 
preaching  in  both  Welsh  and  English,  besides  having  charge 
of  a  church  near  his  home.  In  January,  1836,  he  spent  a  week 
among  the  Welsh  of  Cincinnati.  Here  he  met  B.  J.  Seward 
and  A.  W.  Corey,  who  proposed  that  he  give  one-fourth  of  his 
time  as  a  missionary  to  the  American  Sunday-School  Union. 
His  commission  was  signed  by  John  Hall,  later  of  Trenton. 
In  1844  he  resigned  the  pastorate  and  gave  his  whole  time 
thereafter  to  Sunday-school  work,  in  the  service  of  the  Union, 
until  his  death. 

His  magnetism  and  Welsh  fire  kindled  inspiration  wherever 
he  went.  His  name  became  a  household  word  in  the  valley 
of  the  Ohio,  and  familiar  to  many  Christian  homes  in  America 
and  England.  His  refined  manners,  his  tender  sensibilities, 
his  quick  perception,  and  his  warm  heart,  added  to  his  fer- 
vency in  speech,  made  him  an  orator  of  unusual  power. 
He  discharged  his  well-rounded  sentences  with  an  electric 
force  that  thrilled  his  audience.  His  long  and  varied  career 
gave  him  abundant  illustrations,  and  his  sincerity  in  the 
service  of  Christ  led  him  not  only  to  improve  every  oppor- 
tunity to  plead  the  cause  of  the  Master,  but  to  do  it  with 
energy,  fervency  and  with  a  vigor  which  astonished  his  asso- 
ciates. 

For  years  he  traveled  up  and  down  the  valleys  of  the  Ohio 
and  the  Mississippi,  gathering  children  for  Bible  study, 
preaching,  calling  at  homes,  and  in  every  way  persuading  the 
scattered  people  in  new  communities  to  live  the  better  life, 
loyal  to  Christ.  Born  of  the  Spirit  and  so  far  God-inspired, 
his  swift  soul-inspiring  story  of  Christ  and  of  salvation  held 
his  hearers  spellbound  and  swayed  his  audiences  with  un- 
wonted power.  It  mattered  not  whether  he  was  speaking  in 
his  mother  tongue  to  his  countrymen  from  Wales,  or  in  the 


268  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

acquired  tongue  of  his  adopted  land,  to  backwoods,  crowds  or 
to  cultured  city  audiences  in  the  centers  of  wealth  and  refine- 
ment; all  alike  bowed  before  his  persuasive  pleading  and  his 
fervid  eloquence. 

He  was  always  a  popular  and  conspicuous  speaker  at 
Sunday-school  celebrations  and  conventions  in  America  and 
a  welcome  representative  of  the  Union  at  the  Raikes'  Cen- 
tenary in  London,  1880,  and  at  the  World's  Sunday-School 
Convention  in  1889.  During  the  Civil  War  he  was  not 
only  missionary  but  chaplain  in  the  army,  rendering  efficient 
service  in  the  Sanitary  and  Christian  Commissions.  He  often 
thrilled  audiences  or  melted  them  to  tears  as  he  told  of  the 
tragic  incidents  of  the  battlefield. 

Perhaps  the  greatest  effort  of  his  life  was  at  the  last  annual 
meeting  of  the  Christian  Commission  in  Washington,  1866. 
Vice-President  Colfax  unexpectedly  called  upon  him  to  speak 
of  the  work  of  the  Commission  in  the  South  and  West.  Mr. 
Chidlaw  made  his  way  through  the  crowd  to  the  speaker's 
platform,  perplexed  and  surprised,  as  well  as  embarrassed. 
But  gradually  he  recovered  his  self-possession,  and  his  ex- 
tempore oration  ended  in  a  spontaneous  dramatic  scene,  which 
is  well  described  by  one  who  was  present: 

Rev.  B.  W.  Chidlaw  carried  off  the  palm  for  eloquence  last 
night  at  the  final  annual  celebration  of  the  United  States  Chris- 
tian Commission.  His  speech  took  the  house  by  storm,  and 
thoroughly  aroused  the  vast  assemblage,  which  became  perfectly 
enthusiastic  and  gave  the  reverend  gentleman  round  upon  round 
of  applause  during  the  course  of  his  remarks.  He  thrilled  the 
vast  audience  with  his  eloquent  illustrations  of  the  noble  work 
done.  His  allusions  to  the  closing  labors  of  the  Commission  were 
so  affecting  as  to  melt  the  audience  to  tears.  He  was  unani- 
mously dubbed  the  orator — par  excellence — of  the  occasion. 

Dr.  Chidlaw  was  a  trustee  of  the  Miami  University,  a  com- 
missioner of  the  Ohio  Reform  School,  and  interested  in  many 
other  benevolent  institutions,  but  gave  his  life  chiefly  to  work 
for  the  young.  Little  children  loved  him;  he  always  caught 
their  ear  and  held  them  with  rapt  attention. 

The  end  came  while  he  was  on  a  visit  to  his  native  Wales. 
His  life  went  out  like  a  flash.  One  moment  he  was  in  high 
spirits,  laughing  and  joking  with  those  about  him,  for  it  was 
his  eighty-first  birthday.     Suddenly  he  threw  his  hands  over 


MISSIONARY  WORK  SYSTEMATIZED         269 

his  heart  and  retired  to  his  room,  and  the  next  moment  was 
found  dead.  There  seems  a  beautiful  fitness  in  the  closing  of 
his  life  near  the  Welsh  village  where  it  began  and  on  his  birth- 
day. He  was  the  last  of  a  great  trio  of  Union  pioneer  Sunday- 
school  missionaries — Stephen  Paxson,  John  McCullagh  and 
Benjamin  W.  Chidlaw — long  to  be  remembered  for  their  suc- 
cessful work  in  connection  with  the  Society  which  they  de- 
lighted to  honor,  and  thus  serve  the  Master. 

In  The  Story  of  My  Life  Chidlaw  has  recorded  with  singular 
simplicity  and  graphic  power,  as  well  as  modesty,  the  remark- 
able experiences  through  which  the  Lord  led  him.  See  The 
Story  of  My  Life  and  Sunset  and  Evening  Star  for  further  ac- 
count of  Dr.  Chidlaw's  life  and  work. 

John  McCullagh  (1811-1888),  Missionary  and  Superintendent 
(1841-1881). 

John  McCullagh,  a  Scotch  ladjborn  in  1811  near  Glasgow, 
became  a  scholar  in  Dr.  Thomas  Chalmer's  Sunday-school. 
His  father  dying  when  he  was  young,  his  education  broken  by 
poor  health,  he  studied  engineering  and  some  theology  at  the 
University  of  Glasgow.  The  death  of  his  mother  and  the  loss 
of  his  fortune  by  signing  notes  for  a  friend,  led  him  to  sail  for 
America  in  1834.  In  New  York  he  learned  of  the  American 
Sunday-School  Union  through  Robert  Carter,  the  publisher. 
Mr.  McCullagh  became  a  teacher  at  Monticello  and  did  volun- 
tary Sunday-school  work  in  that  region,  and  then  engaged  in 
surveying  in  Illinois,  where  he  met  Abraham  Lincoln.  In 
1840  he  founded  the  Eclectic  Institute  at  Henderson,  Ken- 
tucky, and  a  Union  Sunday-school.  His  Sunday-school 
mission  work  attracted  the  attention  of  the  Rev.  J.  H.  Huber, 
agent  of  the  American  Sunday-School  Union  at  Louisville, 
who  engaged  Mr.  McCullagh  as  a  missionary  of  the  Society 
in  1841,  a  work  in  which  he  had  signal  success  for  forty-seven 
years. 

For  many  years  he  had  charge  of  the  extension  of  Sunday- 
schools  in  the  entire  South  (1852-1884). 

Mr.  McCullagh  was  of  medium  height,  broad  shouldered, 
with  prominent  features  and  a  marked  Scotch  mental  tem- 
perament. His  versatile  talents,  tactful  and  shrewd  manner, 
fitted  him  to  win  men  in  fields  where  churches  were  unknown, 


270  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

and  religion  and  Bible  study  at  a  discount.  He  was  facile  at 
bringing  together  diverse  characters  and  persons  of  widely 
varying  prejudices  and  nationality,  making  him  a  successful 
pioneer  missionary.  He  made  the  Sunday-school  center  upon 
the  Bible,  but  regarded  the  circulation  of  religious  books  as 
one  of  the  most  important  features  of  his  mission.  His 
genius  is  illustrated  by  capturing  *  'bark-peelers"  through  a 
snowstorm,  and,  while  a  civil  engineer  surveying  railways,  he 
succeeded  in  organizing  Sunday-schools  among  the  pioneer 
people.  The  first  Sunday-school  he  founded  in  Henderson, 
Kentucky,  was  followed  by  no  less  than  twelve  churches  and 
fifteen  Sunday-schools  there,  and  in  the  vicinity.  His  in- 
dustry and  success  is  indicated  by  his  having  started  in  one 
year  (1850)  over  ninety  new  Sunday-schools.  His  numerous 
missionary  experiences,  like  those  at  the  "Travelers'  Rest," 
"Two  Books  in  a  Furrow,"  "Rebecca  Thomas'  Ring"  (which 
brought  $14,000  to  the  Society's  work),  "Emma  Hill's  Dollar" 
(which  brought  the  Society  $17,000),  and  "Noah's  Carpenters," 
were  often  repeated  by  him  with  thrilling  effect. 

In  1880  an  appeal  was  made  for  a  missionary  in  Virginia, 
and  was  answered  by  one  who  signed  himself  "Unknown 
Friend."  The  missionary  was  unwittingly  located  in  the 
town  where  this  friend  resided,  but  neither  Mr.  McCullagh 
nor  the  missionary  knew  who  the  unknown  friend  was,  nor 
where  he  lived.  The  friend  was  a  Methodist  layman  who 
often  met  the  missionary  and  accompanied  him  in  his  work 
and  never  gave  a  hint  of  who  he  was.  But  the  friend  was  so 
well  pleased  with  the  investment  that  he  soon  gave  enough 
to  employ  another  worker.  From  this  it  will  be  seen  how 
successful  he  was  in  reaching  the  hearts  and  purses  of  the 
people. 

He  was  one  of  the  few  persons  who,  during  the  Civil  War, 
could  pass  between  the  contending  armies  without  serious 
question.  The  commanders  on  both  sides  knew  him  and 
trusted  him  as  the  "Sunday-school  man."  He  received  a 
cordial  welcome  at  "Liberty  Hall,"  the  home  of  Hon.  Alex- 
ander H.  Stephens.  Mr.  Stephens  was  a  Sunday-school  lad 
in  the  old  Power  Creek  log  schoolhouse  near  what  became  his 
home,  and  declares  that  it  was  a  great  epoch  in  his  life  when 
he  entered  that  school.     Reading  the  Sunday-school  books  of 


MISSIONARY  WORK  SYSTEMATIZED         271 

the  Union  at  night  by  a  pine-knot  light  inspired  Mr.  Stephens 
to  seek  an  education  and  he  became  one  of  the  foremost  states- 
men of  the  South. 

Mr.  McCullagh  is  credited  with  having  organized  (as  a 
volunteer  and  commissioned  missionary)  1,000  Sunday- 
schools,  containing  66,200  members.  A  goodly  number  of  the 
schools  have  grown  into  churches. 

He  passed  to  the  larger  life  August  19,  1888.  The  presi- 
dent of  a  leading  railroad  wrote  to  the  son,  "I  have  often  said 
I  would  rather  have  your  father's  crown  in  glory  than  any 
man's  I  have  ever  known."1 

Stephen  Paxson  (1808-1881);  Missionary  (1848-1868);  Agent 
(1868-1881). 

"You  will  find  a  broad  belt  of  light  through  Central  Illinois 
and  Northern  Missouri  caused  by  the  labors  of  a  pioneer 
Sunday-school  missionary."  This  was  the  happy  way  in 
which  Prof.  P.  G.  Gillett,  LL.D.,  presented  the  missionary, 
Stephen  Paxson,  to  the  National  Sunday-School  Convention 
at  Indianapolis,  in  1872.  As  he  intimated,  Paxson  needed  no 
"introduction";  he  was  probably  better  known  to  the  dele- 
gates than  President  Gillett  himself. 

Mr.  Paxson  was  regarded  as  peculiarly  a  representative 
product  of  pioneer  Sunday-schools  of  America,  because  of 
his  efficient  service  of  from  twenty  to  thirty  years  and  of  his 
remarkable  career.  Few  men  start  with  so  many  handicaps  as 
he  did.  He  was  nicknamed  "Stuttering  Stephen,"  from  an 
impediment  in  his  speech;  he  was  a  crippled  boy  and,  though  he 
partially  recovered,  was  lame  for  life.  He  had  no  schooling, 
but  learned  his  letters  from  signs  on  the  shops. 

Paxson  was  born  in  Ohio  in  1808,  of  English  ancestry. 
When  he  was  a  child,  his  father  died  and  he  found  a  home 
among  strangers.  He  served  apprenticeship  in  the  hatter's 
trade,  walked  to  the  Ohio  River,  worked  his  passage  down  to 
Tennessee,  and  had  a  romantic  marriage.  Wishing  to  cross 
a  stream,  he  saw  a  girl  in  a  skiff  on  the  opposite  side  and  beck- 
oned her  to  row  him  over.  She  complied,  he  gallantly  taking 
the  oars.     But  he  was  inexperienced  in  rowing  and  the  boat 

1  See  also  Sunday-School  Man  of  the  South,  a  graphic  sketch  of  John  McCullagh's 
life  and  labors  by  his  son,  the  Rev.  Joseph  H.  McCullagh,  with  an  introduction  by 
Edwin  W.  Rice,  Phila.,  1889. 


272  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

was  caught  in  the  current  and  whirled  round  and  round. 
The  young  girl  resumed  the  oars  and  safely  landed  the  boat. 
Her  blue  eyes  and  curls  and  quiet  manner  captured  the 
stranger.  His  commanding  personality,  black  eyes  and  black 
hair  in  like  manner  attracted  the  girl,  and,  after  a  few  months, 
it  ended  in  a  marriage,  to  the  displeasure  of  the  girl's  father, 
portly  Squire  Pryor.  He  moved  successively  to  Virginia, 
Alabama,  and  Illinois,  plying  his  trade  by  day  and  entertain- 
ing dancing  parties  at  night  by  his  skilful  playing  of  the  violin 
and  his  proficiency  as  a  master  of  the  dancing  art. 

Rev.  J.  M.  Peck,  one  of  the  missionaries  of  the  American 
Sunday-School  Union  engaged  in  the  Mississippi  Valley 
Enterprise,  formed  a  school  in  Illinois  near  where  Stephen 
Paxson  then  lived.  The  school  soon  declined,  but  later  was 
reorganized  and  revived  by  Dr.  John  Adams,  another  mis- 
sionary of  the  Society.  Into  this  school  Paxson's  little 
daughter  Mary,  brought  her  father.  He  became  a  faithful 
member  for  four  years,  confessed  Christ,  and  united  with  the 
church  not  far  away,  along  with  his  wife  who  had  been  a 
member  for  some  time.  Paxson  showed  the  sincerity  of  his 
new  life  by  voluntary  work,  organizing  schools  in  new  places. 
Dr.  Adams,  a  born  teacher  and  keen  in  his  judgment  of  char- 
acter, perceived  that  Paxson  had  the  qualifications  for  a  mis- 
sionary evangelist  and  recommended  him  to  the  Society. 
With  true  western  energy,  Paxson  accepted  and,  for  economy, 
moved  from  the  village  into  the  forest  at  Hickory  Hill,  built 
a  rude  log  cabin  for  his  family  in  which  blankets  were  hung 
for  the  windows  and  doorway  and  for  dividing  the  room,  and 
started  out  upon  his  mission,  achieving  remarkable  success  for 
twenty  years. 

Mr.  Paxson  possessed  those  native  qualities  of  tact,  com- 
mon sense  and  keen  perception  which  fitted  him  to  be  a  suc- 
cessful pioneer  in  Sunday-school  work.  He  was  never 
daunted  by  bad  weather.  A  favorite  expression  with  him  was, 
"A  Sunday-school  born  in  a  snowstorm  will  never  be  scared 
by  a  white  frost."  And  in  pleading  his  cause,  whether  argu- 
ing for  the  establishment  of  a  Sunday-school  among  the 
backwoodsmen  on  the  prairie,  or  telling  of  his  work  before  cul- 
tured audiences  in  the  East,  he  gave  his  experiences,  for  he 
said,  "Facts  are  God's  arguments."     Most  of  his  pioneer  work 


MISSIONARY  WORK  SYSTEMATIZED         273 

was  done  on  horseback  or  with  horse  and  wagon.  His  horse, 
named  Robert  Raikes,  was  said  to  have  carried  him  more 
than  100,000  miles.  The  horse  "would  never  pass  a  child  on 
the  road,  or  a  house,  without  stopping,"  sure  that  his  master 
wished  to  speak  to  the  child,  or  tell  of  his  work  at  the  home. 
When  the  horse  was  worn  out,  Ralph  Wells  of  New  York  sent 
$100  to  purchase  "Robert  Raikes,  Jr." 

After  some  years  of  experience  as  a  pioneer,  Mr.  Paxson  was 
frequently  called  East  to  awaken  an  interest  and  secure  funds 
for  the  extension  of  the  work  to  needy  fields.  His  intensity  of 
manner,  homeliness  of  speech,  and  graphic  sketches  always 
deeply  interested  his  audiences. 

A  city  daily  in  New  York  reported,  "Stephen  Paxson  made 
an  address  in  which  his  aristocratic  auditors  were  so  deeply 
interested  that  they  wept  and  smiled  alternately,  never  heed- 
ing mistakes  in  grammar  or  rhetorical  discrepancies."  Similar 
reports  were  made  of  his  addresses  in  Boston  and  other  cities 
of  New  England,  as  well  as  in  those  in  the  Middle  States. 

In  twenty  years  he  reported  organizing  1,314  new  Sunday- 
schools  with  over  83,000  members.  He  was  credited  with 
reviving  the  series  of  Sunday-school  conventions  in  the  West 
and  was  always  counted  the  leading  speaker  for  inspiration 
and  helpfulness  in  whatever  assembly  he  entered. 

He  had  business  offers  that  were  flattering,  one  in  which  a 
friend  proposed  to  invest  $50,000  in  the  purchase  of  land, 
Paxson  to  do  the  work  and  the  two  to  share  equally  in  the 
profits.  Years  afterward  the  two  compared  notes.  His 
friend  had  doubled  his  $50,000.  Paxson,  from  his  memo- 
randum, pointed  to  a  record  of  50,000  scholars  gathered  into 
Sunday-schools  up  to  that  time  and  said,  "I  would  not  alter 
the  record  nor  change  the  investment." 

When  Paxson  had  grown  weary  and  worn  by  incessant  toil 
and  travel,  organizing  schools  in  tobacco  barns  and  crossing 
swollen  creeks,  the  Society  placed  him  in  charge  of  the  de- 
pository in  St.  Louis,  which  left  him  free  to  attend  missionary 
conventions,  meetings  and  institutes  whenever  he  desired. 
After  a  dozen  years  of  this  experience,  the  old  pioneer,  free 
from  pain  and  weariness  and  surrounded  by  his  family,  passed 
from  earth,  as  the  last  rays  of  the  setting  sun  fell  upon  his 
weary  couch,  April  22,  1881,  in  the  seventy-third  year  of  his 


274  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

age.  The  story  of  his  life  is  sketched  with  filial  sympathy  by 
his  daughter  Belle,  in  a  little  volume  entitled,  A  Fruitful 
Life. 

The  bronze  bust  of  Paxson  has  just  been  presented  to  the 
Society  by  the  Pilgrim  Congregational  Church,  of  St.  Louis, 
Mo.,  of  which  he  was  a  member. 

William  P.  Paxson,  D.D.  (1837-1896),  Superintendent  (1868- 
1896). 

Inheriting  a  love  and  catching  an  inspiration  for  mission 
work  from  his  father,  Stephen  Paxson,  Dr.  William  P.  Paxson 
was  early  trained  for  Christian  service.  While  only  a  lad  of 
fifteen,  he  accompanied  his  father  in  missionary  tours  and,  on 
completing  his  education,  entered  the  missionary  service, 
first  in  Arkansas  and  then  as  a  voluntary  Christian  worker  in 
Illinois,  until  1865,  when  he  was  appointed  missionary  in 
Missouri.  By  energy  and  ability  he  won  the  position  of 
superintendent  of  the  Society's  work  in  the  Southwest,  and 
directed  it  for  over  a  quarter  of  a  century.  He  inspired  his 
co-laborers  with  the  ambition  to  extend  Sunday-schools,  or- 
ganizing as  many  as  possible  every  year  in  destitute  places. 
His  enthusiasm  and  skill  stimulated  them  to  do  their  best  in 
this  line  of  the  Society's  work. 

Dr.  Paxson  was  a  forcible  and  eloquent  speaker,  present- 
ing the  claims  of  the  Society  in  a  manner  that  carried  convic- 
tion. He  had  a  fine  presence,  thorough  familiarity  with  his 
subject,  an  easy  flow  of  language,  a  ready  wit,  and  he  mar- 
shalled his  facts  to  sway  and  win  his  audience.  His  whole  soul 
was  in  his  work  and  he  wished  every  speech  to  tell  for  it.  His 
last  service  closed  with  a  burst  of  eloquence — a  fitting  period 
to  his  useful  life. 

Rev.  Dr.  George  S.  Bishop,  pastor  of  the  church,  said, 
"Paxson  was  remarkable  for  his  knowledge  of  the  Bible.  .  .  . 
The  prophecies  were  his  favorite  theme.  After  this  great  ser- 
mon in  East  Orange,  New  Jersey,  he  was  suddenly  stricken 
with  paralysis.  Just  before  it  he  exclaimed,  'Oh,  if  the  Lord 
Jesus  would  but  come  just  now!  What  rapture!'  He  loved 
his  country — the  Indian  country — and  was  full  of  anecdotes 
concerning  the  West.  He  understood  the  mingled  races,  red, 
white,  and  black,  and  how  to  deal  with  each  of  them  from  its 


MISSIONARY  WORK  SYSTEMATIZED         275 

own  level  and  standpoint.     He  was  a  many-sided  man.     He 
went  as  in  a  chariot." 

Dr.  Paxson  was  buried  in  the  cemetery  at  St.  Louis  beside 
his  father,  Stephen  Paxson,  over  whose  grave  stands  a  monu- 
ment erected  by  voluntary  contributions  from  Sunday-school 
people. 

Maurice  Alexander  Wurts  (1820-1881),  Secretary  of  Missions 

(1861-1881). 

Maurice  A.  Wurts  had  an  enthusiastic  love  for  the  young. 
Thus  in  the  Greenway  Mission,  Philadelphia,  when  the  school 
had  repeated  the  Fifth  Commandment,  he  would  exclaim, 
"Boys,  you  honor  your  mothers,  of  course  you  do.  Don't  I 
honor  my  mother?  I  would  go  on  my  hands  and  knees  to 
serve  her." 

>  Born  in  Louisville,  Kentucky,  in  1820,  he  came  to  Phila- 
delphia when  young  and  entered  the  mercantile  business, 
first  with  his  uncle  and  later  as  a  partner  in  the  house.  He 
became  a  warm  personal,  life-long  friend  of  his  pastor,  the 
Rev,  Henry  A.  Boardman,  D.D.  His  delight  was  in  mission 
work  among  the  poor.  He  founded  the  Moyamensing  Mis- 
sion, out  of  which  grew  the  Holland  Memorial  Presbyterian 
Church,  and  in  1858  took  charge  of  the  Greenway  Mission, 
West  Philadelphia,  an  undenominational  Sunday-school  then 
in  an  exceedingly  destitute  part  of  the  city. 

Mr.  Wurts'  business  and  mission  experience  led  the  man- 
agers to  elect  him  secretary  of  missions  and  recording  secre- 
tary of  the  American  Sunday-School  Union  in  February,  1861. 
It  was  a  time  that  "tried  men's  souls."  The  society  had  a 
crushing  debt,  divided  views  over  its  management  and  the 
horrors  of  a  national  civil  war.  But  the  Lord  blessed  the 
Society  in  bringing  comfort  and  consolation  to  multitudes  of 
sick,  wounded,  and  dying  soldiers,  and  to  stricken  and  sorrow- 
ing families.  When  peace  came,  the  Union  promptly  resumed 
its  suspended  mission  work  in  the  desolated  South.  During 
the  twenty  years  of  Secretary  Wurts'  supervision  of  its  mis- 
sion work,  many  improved  methods  of  conducting  it  were  in- 
troduced, a  more  sj^stematic  plan  of  reporting  and  recording 
the  results  of  missionaries'  labors  was  adopted,  and  increasing 
emphasis  was  laid  upon  improving  the  schools  and  making 


276  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

more  of  them  permanent.  The  resources  and  expenditures 
in  mission  work  were  also  reorganized  upon  a  more  healthy 
financial  basis. 

His  delicate  sense  of  honor,  his  frankness  and  diligence, 
commanded  the  confidence  of  business  men.  When  a  speaker 
in  Minnesota,  in  1872,  charged  that  the  Union's  missionaries 
interfered  with  denominational  schools,  Secretary  Wurts  was 
present,  unknown  to  the  speaker,  and  sprang  to  his  feet  to  tell 
the  audience  that  any  missionary  of  the  Union  who  had  so  far 
forgotten  his  instructions  as  to  be  guilty  of  the  conduct  charged 
would  be  instantly  dismissed.  He  called  on  the  speaker  for 
the  name  of  the  school  and  the  missionary,  but  the  speaker,  so 
unexpectedly  challenged,  had  to  confess  that  he  was  unable  to 
name  either  the  man  or  the  school.  It  was  said  of  Mr.  Wurts 
that  he  was  "educated  in  God's  school"  of  experience,  with 
Christian  merchants,  men  of  affairs,  and  by  his  long  years  of 
service  in  mission  schools.  The  rarer  graces  were  never  better 
seen  than  when  he  was  severely  criticized.  He  kept  his  cour- 
teous manner,  calm  spirit,  and  his  simple  modesty  and  humil- 
ity. Naturally  nervous  in  temperament,  the  care  of  the  mis- 
sionary operations  of  the  Society  was  a  great  strain;  his 
health  failed,  and  he  died  December  15,  1881.  His  co-work- 
ers placed  on  record  many  strong  and  loving  tributes  to  his 
memory.1 

Martin  Brown  Lewis  (1820-1912),  Missionary  for  Fifty-two 
Years. 
Martin  B.  Lewis  had  a  pioneer  missionary  career  remark- 
able for  length,  earnestness,  and  efficiency  of  service  in  the 
field.  His  life  illustrates  what  intelligent,  consecrated  lay- 
men can  do  as  Sunday-school  evangelists.  Born  at  Milo, 
New  York,  on  the  shores  of  the  beautiful  Seneca  Lake,  Novem- 
ber, 1820,  on  completing  his  education,  Mr.  Lewis  entered 
mercantile  life  in  Penn  Yan,  New  York.  The  health  of  his 
wife  demanding  a  change  of  climate,  he  moved  to  Red  Wing, 
Minnesota,  and  engaged  in  the  commission  business.  He 
started  there  with  large  business  prospects,  but  the  financial 
crisis  of  1857  and  the  recklessness  of  a  partner  forced  the 

1  See  Maurice  A.  Wurts,  memorial  volume.  An  Unselfish  Life,  1882,  The  Sunday- 
School  World,  1882. 


MISSIONARY  WORK  SYSTEMATIZED         277 

house  to  suspend.  Meanwhile  Mr.  Lewis  had  become  a 
prominent  worker  in  the  church  that  had  grown  out  of  an 
Indian  mission  (Wah-coutah).  In  1859  when  the  American 
Sunday-School  Union  requested  its  missionary,  E.  W.  Rice, 
to  secure  another  pioneer  worker,  he  recommended  Mr.  Lewis, 
who  with  some  hesitation  accepted  the  call  and  began  his 
pioneer  Sunday-school  work  in  April,  1860. 

As  a  layman  he  had  been  trained  and  prepared  of  God  for 
such  a  service.  Genial  in  manner,  warm  of  heart,  fervent  in 
his  Christian  life,  ever  ready  to  witness  for  the  Master,  he 
carried  the  gospel  message  for  over  half  a  century  to  the 
lonely  homes  over  the  western  prairies  and  into  the  sparsely 
settled  regions  of  the  Mississippi  Valley  in  Minnesota  and 
Wisconsin.  In  this  work  Mrs.  Lewis  was  a  wise  companion 
and  a  splendid  helper,  who  by  her  discreet  counsel  and  de- 
vout prayers  cheered  him  in  his  arduous  and  often  wearying 
labors  in  the  new  settlements  then  forming  in  that  region. 

Summing  up  his  labors  for  the  first  thirty  years,  he  recorded 
more  than  800  new  schools,  reaching  30,000  members,  and 
forming  a  nucleus  for  the  organization  of  more  than  150 
churches  of  different  denominations.  Near  the  close  of  his 
life,  as  if  in  a  vision  of  the  world  beyond,  he  seemed  to  hear 
voices  of  redeemed  ones  re-echoing  through  the  years  of  shadow 
and  of  sunshine,  and  to  see  the  pastors  of  churches,  teachers 
in  schools,  and  leaders  of  thought  who  had  been  won  to  the 
nobler  life  by  his  lay  ministry. 

Few  Christian  workers  were  so  winning  and  successful  in 
individual  work  for  individual  souls.  He  was  remarkably 
successful  in  bringing  the  great  question  of  personal  religion 
home  to  the  lonely  settler  in  the  new  West,  and  was  equally 
winning  in  narrating  the  simple  story  of  his  mission  to  persons 
of  means  and  of  fortune,  whether  in  Chicago,  New  York,  or 
elsewhere.  Many  large  contributions  from  business  men  are 
in  no  small  measure  due  to  his  interviews  with  them  when  he 
was  called  from  his  field  to  tell  of  his  work. 

The  blessed  influences  of  his  life  will  long  linger  in  all  that 
region,  as  a  benediction  in  many  homes  where  he  brought  the 
fight  of  the  gospel,  or  its  consolation,  in  days  of  sorrow. 

The  Society  presented  a  loving-cup  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Lewis 
in  April,  1910,  "In  loving  recognition  of  their  fifty  years  of 


278  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

continuous  and  faithful  missionary  service."  His  fellow  mis- 
sionaries and  the  officers  of  the  Northwest  district  also  pre- 
sented him  with  a  silver  bread  plate  as  a  testimonial  of  their 
esteem  for  him  in  his  long  service. 

He  passed  to  the  other  land  March  30,  1912,  and  eleven 
days  later  a  similar  call  came  to  his  faithful  and  life-long  com- 
panion, both  rare  spirits,  unitedly  consecrated  in  life,  whose 
influence  is  felt  far  beyond  the  bounds  of  their  personal 
acquaintance. 

L.  Milton  Marsh  (1820-1892),  Missionary  (1859-1892). 

Mr.  Marsh  used  playfully  to  say  that  the  "Lord  had  set 
him  aside  to  fill  gaps."  Born  in  New  York  in  1820,  he  became 
a  teacher  of  vocal  music  in  Wisconsin,  and  was  in  business  for 
several  years  until  the  financial  crisis  of  1857  swept  away  his 
means.  Thus  the  Lord  prepared  him  for  a  call  to  Sunday- 
school  missionary  work  which,  with  much  diffidence,  he  ac- 
cepted in  September,  1859.  His  rare  gift  of  song,  his  love  for 
children,  and  his  magnetic  power  over  the  young,  gave  him 
remarkable  success  in  Sunday-school  missionary  work  in 
Wisconsin,  New  England,  Iowa,  Kansas,  and  in  other  fields 
where  he  was  successively  called  to  labor.  His  tact,  discre- 
tion, and  winsome  ways  qualified  him  to  win  confidence  and 
to  be  entrusted  with  responsible  positions,  as  Superin- 
tendent of  the  work  in  the  Rocky  Mountains,  as  Acting 
Secretary  of  Missions  in  Philadelphia,  and  as  Agent  in  New 
England,  and  later,  District  Secretary  of  the  Society  in  New 
York. 

One  of  the  managers  said  of  him,  "He  had  a  single  eye  for 
God's  glory  and  the  good  of  souls."  He  was  slow  in  ex- 
pressing an  opinion,  wishing  to  examine  any  plan  in  all  its 
bearing  before  he  came  to  a  decision.  When  he  did,  it  was 
hard  to  move  him  from  it.  He  scattered  gladness  all  about 
him,  so  that  in  the  homes  where  he  went  parents  were  grateful 
for  his  interest  in  their  children;  the  boys  and  girls  loved  him, 
and  even  the  little  ones  would  climb  upon  his  knee  and  nestle 
in  his  arms. 

He  had  a  staiwart  faith  in  God,  and  his  work  was  the  all- 
absorbing  interest  of  his  life.  He  was  successful  in  persuading 
others  to  sustain  the  work — collecting  thousands  of  dollars 


MISSIONARY  WORK  SYSTEMATIZED         279 

for  the  Society  in  New  England — and  persuaded  friends  in 
New  York  to  enlarge  their  support  of  the  work  for  upward  of 
ten  years,  until  his  death  in  1892. 

F.  G.  Ensign  (1837-1906),  Superintendent  of  Missions  for  the 
Northwest  (1870-1906). 

For  thirty-five  years  Frederick  G.  Ensign  aided  in  promot- 
ing the  missionary  work  of  the  American  Sunday-School 
Union  in  the  region  of  the  Great  Lakes  and  of  the  Mississippi 
Valley.  Of  indomitable  perseverance,  he  acquired  unusual 
skill  and  tact  in  securing  competent  men  as  missionaries,  and 
funds  toward  their  support. 

Though  born  in  Pennsylvania,  he  was  of  Puritan  ancestry. 
His  early  life  on  the  prairies  of  Illinois  developed  habits  of  in- 
dustry and  a  vigorous  constitution.  He  desired  to  obtain  a 
good  education,  but  was  prevented  through  his  limited  means 
from  taking  a  complete  college  course.  His  course  of  study  in 
theology  was  also  interrupted  by  the  war  in  1863,  when  he 
became  an  army  missionary  and  entered  the  service  of  the 
Christian  Commission.  After  completing  his  theological 
course  in  1866,  he  became  secretary  of  the  American  Christian 
Commission.  These  various  experiences  and  services  pre- 
pared him  for  entering  upon  the  work  of  the  American  Sun- 
day-School Union,  at  Chicago,  in  1870,  in  charge  of  the  "North- 
west District/'  comprising  five  interior  states.  Hardly  had  he 
entered  upon  this  new  service  when  the  great  Chicago  fire 
occurred,  and  D.  L.  Moody  requested  him  to  aid  in  securing 
funds  for  the  rebuilding  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Asso- 
ciation headquarters  and  in  establishing  the  Moody  Bible 
Institute.  With  Mr.  Moody,  he  aided  in  raising  a  fund  of 
$150,000  for  the  former,  and  $225,000  for  the  latter  institu- 
tion. Meanwhile  the  work  of  the  American  Sunday-School 
Union,  which  had  been  prosecuted  in  that  region  for  over 
forty  years,  now  called  for  special  attention  and  funds  to  re- 
store it  to  its  wonted  efficiency.  It  required  great  persever- 
ance and  intense  earnestness  to  win  the  friendship  and  support 
of  Chicago's  busy,  hustling  business  men.  Friends  in  the 
East  had  poured  vast  amounts  of  money  through  the  Union  to 
found  gospel  institutions  in  the  various  states  in  the  Mississippi 
Valley.     Sooner  or  later  Christian  business  men  in  that  region 


280  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

were  bound  to  recognize  the  important  services  which  the 
Society  had  rendered  in  that  formative  period. 

Mr.  Ensign  saw  a  great  opportunity  to  present  these  facts 
to  the  grandchildren  of  those  early  settlers  who  had  been  aided 
in  the  founding  of  Christian  schools  throughout  that  vast  re- 
gion of  the  country.  He  could  point  to  the  hundreds  of 
churches,  to  the  thousands  of  ministers  and  Sunday-school 
teachers,  and  to  the  tens  of  thousands  of  conversions  that  had 
resulted  from  the  earlier  work  of  the  Society  in  these  states. 
Moreover,  into  portions  of  this  vast  territory  were  now  again 
pouring  immigrants  from  all  nations  of  the  world.  Thus  this 
territory  offered  a  magnificent  opporunity  for  still  larger  ser- 
vice of  the  Union  in  that  section.  Mr.  Ensign,  in  common 
with  others  in  the  Society,  had  a  clear  foresight  of  what  might 
be  done  under  such  conditions  in  shaping  and  molding  the 
spiritual  welfare  of  the  Northwest  to  a  greater  degree  than  ten 
times  the  amount  of  such  labor  might  accomplish  a  generation 
later.  Christian  business  men,  here  and  there,  responded 
generously  to  the  call.  Mr.  Ensign's  zeal  and  enthusiasm  and 
his  commanding  personality  won  many  friends  who  aided  in 
enlarging  the  work  and  in  contributing  funds  for  its  support. 
The  records  indicate  that  over  16,700  new  Sunday-schools 
were  established,  with  65,600  teachers  and  over  500,000 
scholars,  besides  aid  given  to  other  schools,  reaching  more 
than  3,500,000  scholars  and  searching  out  homes  into  which 
125,000  copies  of  the  Scriptures  were  introduced,  and  more 
than  57,000  persons  confessed  Christ  and  upward  of  1,400 
churches  were  formed  during  the  thirty-six  years  of  his  super- 
vision in  that  district. 

Philanthropists  and  Christian  business  men  in  that  section 
have  recorded  their  gratitude  for  the  work  the  Union  did  and 
their  estimate  of  what  it  can  still  do  by  enrolling  themselves 
among  the  most  generous  of  its  contributors.  This  is  due,  in 
no  small  measure,  to  the  magnetic  appeals  of  F.  G.  Ensign. 
His  valued  services  continued  until  his  brief  illness  and  sudden 
doath  in  1906,  lamented  by  the  friends  of  Sunday-schools  not 
only  in  the  Northwest,  but  in  the  entire  country. 


SECTION  VIII 


HOUSING   THE   INSTITUTION 


Housing  the  Sunday-school. — The  modern  Sunday-school 
started  in  a  small  room,  a  kitchen,  in  a  private  house.  The 
buildings  in  which  it  has  generally  found  a  home  have  never 
been  wholly  suitable,  nor  quite  favorable  for  its  best  work. 
A  room  in  some  dwelling,  shop,  public  hall,  schoolhouse,  or 
church  basement,  was  the  common  place  for  it,  until  compara- 
tively recent  years.  Only  within  the  present  generation  has 
attention  been  given  to  the  erection  of  buildings  or  churches 
adapted  to  modern  Sunday-school  ideals.  As  already  indi- 
cated, the  churches  generally  were  not  hospitable  to  the 
Sunday-school  at  the  beginning  of  the  movement.  They  either 
offered  it  no  shelter,  or  suffered  it  to  occupy  a  damp  cellar  or 
basement  poorly  lighted  and  ventilated.  In  rare  cases,  with 
great  magnanimity  it  was  allowed  a  secluded  corner  in  the 
gallery  or  loft  of  the  church.  The  writer  well  remembers  his 
first  introduction  into  the  infant  class  of  the  Sunday-school, 
in  the  "thirties"  (1835-1839)  of  the  last  century.  It  was  in 
the  rear  basement  room  of  the  church,  under  the  main  audience 
room,  and  lighted  by  short  upper  windows;  the  entrance  at 
the  rear  was  nearly  on  a  level  with  the  sloping  ground.  The 
room  was  plastered  and  furnished  with  benches,  and  was 
regarded  as  a  superior  place  at  that  time  in  the  Eastern  and 
Middle  States. 

Housing  in  Great  Britain. — In  Great  Britain  up  to  near  the 
close  of  the  nineteenth  century,  the  Sunday-school  was  gener- 
ally housed  beneath  the  church  auditorium,  or  in  small  side- 
rooms,  sometimes  in  galleries,  and  makeshift  places.  There 
were  some  notable  exceptions,  in  London,  Manchester,  and  a 
few  other  cities.  The  famous  Stockport  School  was  housed  in 
a  building  in  some  measure  suitable.  The  majority  of  British 
Church  schools,  however,  were  housed  in  the  Gothic  cathe- 
drals and  church  buildings,  erected  to  suit  mediaeval  ideals. 

281 


282  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

Some  Nonconformist  churches  have  been  constructed  with  a 
central  auditorium  and  classrooms  in  the  rear  and  sides,  or 
with  a  gallery  having  classrooms,  as  in  some  places  in  America. 
The  industrial  regions  of  Britain  have  large  Sunday-schools, 
where  the  demand  for  better  housing  has  become  more  acute. 
Buildings  with  departmental  rooms  for  Primary,  Junior,  and 
Senior  classes,  and  cloak  rooms— with  separate  entrances  for 
each  department — are  being  erected  to  meet  the  newer  organ- 
ized methods  of  these  Sunday-schools. 

Housing  in  America. — As  in  England,  so  in  America,  in  the 
early  era  of  the  Sunday-school  cause,  the  schools  were  held  in 
private  dwellings,  in  halls,  schoolhouses,  sheds,  barns,  and  in 
shops,  or  groves,  uniformly  outside  of  church  buildings. 

In  communities  remote  from  churches,  and  on  frontier  settle- 
ments, the  spirit  of  toleration  and  religious  liberty  long  pre- 
vailed, so  that  the  public  schoolhouse  was  generally  thrown 
open  on  Sundays  for  the  Sunday-school.  This  is  not  so  com- 
mon now.  Toleration  is  extended  to  all  kinds  of  educational, 
civil  and  social  meetings  in  the  schoolhouse,  except  for  relig- 
ious worship  or  Bible  instruction.  In  many  sections  of  the 
country,  meetings  of  the  latter  kind  are  no  longer  tolerated  in 
the  buildings  set  apart  for  the  public  education  of  the  young! 

When  the  institution  was  widely  accepted  by  the  churches, 
nearly  a  century  ago,  none  of  the  church  buildings  had  been 
erected  in  anticipation  of  housing  a  Sunday-school.  The  best 
that  could  be  offered  to  this  new  movement  was  a  temporary 
place,  originally  planned  for  an  entirely  different  purpose,  as  a 
prayer  meeting,  a  singing  gallery,  or  a  basement  intended  for  a 
storeroom.  As  new  church  buildings  were  erected,  improved 
accommodations  were  gradually  provided  for  the  school. 
About  1870  special  study  began  to  be  directed  to  the  struc- 
ture of  edifices,  to  suit  combined  church  and  school  service. 
Lewis  Miller,  of  Akron,  Ohio,  planned  a  type  of  edifice  in- 
tended for  both  purposes.  It  was  a  parallelogram  in  shape, 
the  desk  or  pulpit  at  one  side,  instead  of  at  the  end  as  was 
common.  There  were  entrances  at  two  of  the  corners,  the 
auditorium  having  small  rooms  on  three  sides.  The  parti- 
tions were  set  so  that  the  desk  might  be  visible  from  every  class- 
room, the  main  audience  being  seated  in  the  large  space,  be- 
tween the  desk  and  classrooms.     As  the  classrooms  could  be 


HOUSING  THE  INSTITUTION  283 

closed  by  glass  folding-doors,  this  plan  made  it  possible  to 
have  general  exercises  for  the  whole  school,  led  by  the  pastor 
or  superintendent  at  the  desk,  and  also  to  have  class  instruc- 
tion follow  in  the  separate  classrooms.  Many  modifications 
of  this  plan  were  designed.  The  same  building  with  the 
auditorium  was  also  available  for  church  services.  The  Uni- 
form System  of  lessons  (1872)  increased  the  popularity  of 
buildings  modeled  after  this  design.  It  did  not,  however, 
always  prove  as  satisfactory  as  some  of  its  advocates  pre- 
dicted. The  classes  were  in  some  measure  still  separate,  and 
this  marred  the  social  effect  desired  in  assembling  together 
for  worship. 

When  graded  and  departmental  lessons  began  to  be  intro- 
duced into  America  and  Great  Britain,  the  dissatisfaction  with 
existing  buildings  became  wide-spread  among  the  advocates  of 
specially  graded  lessons.  In  part  this  condition  was  antic- 
ipated by  George  W.  Kramer,  an  architect,  who  designed  and 
exhibited  a  plan  for  separate  rooms  and  separate  departments 
of  a  Sunday-school  at  the  World's  Fair  in  1893.  He  and 
many  other  architects  have  since  designed  similar  buildings, 
providing  for  almost  every  variety  of  church  and  Sunday- 
school  activities.  They  include  such  features  as  an  auditorium, 
lecture  room,  dining  room,  parlors,  gymnasium,  kindergarten 
and  mothers'  rooms,  library  and  reading  rooms,  class  and  de- 
partmental rooms,  kitchen,  superintendents' ,  secretaries',  and 
other  officers'  rooms,  toilet,  storage  and  cloakrooms,  a  swim- 
ming pool,  lockers,  bowling  alley,  and  clubrooms,  and,  in  some 
plans,  a  prayer  room.  The  problem  of  a  building  satisfactory 
for  the  modern  Sunday-school  and  modern  church  service  also 
is  a  very  complicated  one.  It  awaits  solution.  Practically 
two  buildings  quite  different  in  structure  are  indicated  as  the 
possible  solution. 

Housing  Union  Schools. — The  largest  proportion  of  Ameri- 
can Sunday-schools  started  in  the  country  for  forty  or  fifty 
years  following  the  enthusiasm  awakened  by  the  Mississippi 
Valley  Enterprise,  were  upon  the  union  plan.  They  were 
housed  in  whatever  was  available  and  the  most  convenient 
shelter.  Usually  it  was  the  building  used  on  week-days  for 
the  public  school.  Quite  frequently,  however,  the  Sunday- 
school  was  the  pioneer  educational  and  religious  organization 


284  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

in  frontier  communities.  Then  it  found  a  temporary  shelter 
in  a  shack,  an  unfinished  building,  storehouse,  hall  or  tent. 
Later  it  might  be  moved  to  a  grange,  or  town  hall,  or  a  chapel 
might  be  erected  for  it  and  for  other  meetings,  civil  and  social. 
The  lack  of  a  building  rarely  prevented  the  establishment  of  a 
Sunday-school  in  any  rural  community. 

The  American  farmers  are  resourceful  from  necessity. 
Their  women  discover  many  mysterious  ways  of  dividing  a 
one-  or  two-roomed  dwelling  to  meet  emergencies.  So  the 
problem  of  making  temporary  classrooms  in  a  hall,  or  in  any 
one-roomed  building,  for  the  country  Sunday-school  depart- 
mental grades  is  a  very  simple  one  to  them.  They  screen  off 
one  corner  with  quilt  or  sheet  for  the  Primaries,  another  for 
the  Juniors,  and  a  third  corner  for  an  Adult  Bible  Class, 
leaving  the  center  for  the  Main,  or  Intermediate  Department. 
This  is  not  an  ideal  housing,  but  in  the  formative  period  of  a 
frontier  community  farmers'  wives  have  long  been  better 
trained  than  their  husbands  to  accept  makeshifts  good 
naturedly — though  not  content  with  them.  They  suffer 
many  inconveniences  cheerfully  for  the  good  of  their  chil- 
dren. 

Mission  Chapels. — In  factory,  industrial,  and  mining  cen- 
ters, outside  the  cities,  where  the  workmen  and  their  families, 
of  diverse  race,  speech,  and  habits,  are  often  crowded  together 
in  small  houses,  the  Sunday-school  shares  its  shelter  with  other 
welfare  work.  The  buildings  vary  in  shape,  structure,  and  in- 
side appointments,  according  to  the  idea  of  their  owners  and 
the  demands  of  the  people.  Many  of  the  large  mining  and 
industrial  corporations  are  making  liberal  provision  for  wel- 
fare work,  including  Sunday-schools  among  their  employees, 
and  are  paying  the  salaries  of  suitably  trained  persons  to 
supervise  this  service. 

Large  mission  schools  in  cities,  and  wherever  there  are  con- 
gested populations,  have  been  furnished  with  buildings  in- 
tended to  be  specially  adapted  to  their  needs  by  Christian 
philanthropists.  These  have  not  always  proved  satisfactory. 
The  conditions  require  to  be  more  carefully  studied  in  order 
to  design  a  building  fitted  closer  to  particular  needs.  Each 
field  has  problems  and  conditions  of  its  own  to  be  considered, 
just  as  every  child  must  be  studied  in  successfully  training 


HOUSING  THE  INSTITUTION  285 

him  for  the  country  and  for  God.  Plans  for  Sunday-school 
buildings  and  rooms  are  varied  and  abundant,  especially  those 
adapted  for  housing  large  schools.  Marion  Lawrance, 
Practical  Study  of  Sunday-School  Buildings;  C.  W.  Stoughton, 
Housing  the  Church  School;  G.  W.  Kramer,  Twentieth  Century 
Church  and  Architecture  in  The  Encyclopedia  of  Sunday-Schools, 
give  some  later  suggestive  plans  for  better  housing  the  insti- 
tution. 

Housing  Sunday-School  Societies. — The  home  of  an  insti- 
tution, like  that  of  a  person,  may  reveal  to  us  the  circum- 
stances, the  ideals,  the  ambitions,  and  much  of  the  character 
of  the  occupants.  Thus  the  Sunday  and  Adult  School  Union 
was  busy  for  two  years  (1817  and  1818)  in  sizing  up  the  mag- 
nitude of  the  task  it  was  to  undertake,  and  in  considering  the 
housing  which  it  would  require  or  could  command.  Mean- 
while the  managers  held  their  meetings,  sometimes  in  Mr. 
Gartley's  schoolroom,  and  at  other  times,  in  Mr.  Van  Pelt's 
schoolroom,  or  in  the  building  at  the  northwest  corner  of 
Fourth  and  Arch  Streets,  Philadelphia. 

Abraham  Martin,  who  was  recording  secretary  of  the 
Union  in  1824,  from  his  recollection  about  fifty  years  later, 
stated  that  "the  depository  of  the  Sunday  and  Adult  School 
Union  was  in  a  room  ten  feet  square  on  Fourth  Street,  third 
house  above  Cherry  Street."1  This  may  have  been  a  place 
of  business  some  time  during  1817  or  1818,  but  no  definite 
statement  of  this  fact  in  the  printed  or  written  records  of  the 
Union  has  been  found. 

The  next  year,  late  in  1819  or  early  in  1820,  the  room  on 
Arch  Street  was  found  inadequate,  and  the  entire  floor  at 
29  N.  Fourth  street  was  leased.  The  depository  and  business 
of  the  Society  centered  here  until  the  Sunday  and  Adult 
School  Union  changed  to  the  American  Sunday-School  Union 
in  1824. 

Under  its  new  name  the  Union  soon  found  the  depository 
too  small  for  its  business,  and  on  January  1,  1825,  rented  the 
entire  dwelling  No.  13  N.  Fourth  Street,  which  was  found 
convenient  for  a  depository  and  for  necessary  offices  and  also 
for  meetings  of  the  managers.2 

The  literature  of  the  Union  grew  rapidly  in  public  favor  and 

1  Report,  1864,  p.  3.  *  Report,  1825,  p.  6. 


286  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

the  business  increased  in  volume,  so  that  in  1826  the  managers 
complained  of  the  "straitness"  of  their  accommodations. 
They  believed  that  the  citizens  of  Philadelphia  would  cheer- 
fully provide  this  national  Society  with  a  suitable  building, 
similarto  one  which  New  York  had  so  generously  furnished 
for  the  American  Bible  Society.  Encouraged  by  the  sym- 
pathy of  the  public,  the  Union  purchased  the  lot  and  dwelling 
at  146  Chestnut  Street  in  March,  1827,  for  $28,000.  The 
alterations,  additions,  and  the  perpetual  insurance  of  $18,000 
brought  the  total  cost  to  $42,654.  "The  buildings  on  Chestnut 
Street  had  been  altered  to  suit  the  purposes  of  the  Society  and 
its  various  tenants.' '  "In  addition  to  the  room  used  by  the 
Society,  and  that  rented  to  the  Mercantile  Library  Company, 
Loud  and  Brothers,  and  J.  B.  Longacre,"  the  premises  were 
"occupied  by  printers,  stereotype-founders,  bookbinders,  and 
engravers,  each  paying  their  separate  rents,  but  holding  no 
other  connection  with  the  Society  than  giving  them  the  prefer- 
ence in  the  work  to  be  done  at  the  current  rates  in  *the  city."1 
The  records  of  the  Union  indicate  that  nearly  all  the  contri- 
butions toward  the  building  (fully  six-sevenths  of  them)  came 
through  the  Committee  of  Publication,  as  the  building  was 
required  for  that  purpose.  The  missionary  work  had  not  yet 
developed  so  as  to  require  more  than  desk-room  and  a  part  of 
the  time  of  Corresponding  Secretary  Porter,  whose  time  was 
chiefly  devoted  to  the  preparation  and  distribution  of  publica- 
tions. These  contributions  of  246  citizens  of  Philadelphia, 
like  the  subsequent  contributions  for  the  building,  were  to 
provide  for  the  conduct  and  the  maintenance  of  the  publication 
work  of  the  Union,  and  were  specially  given  for  this  purpose.2 
The  appeal  was  made  in  the  following  terms: 
"  During  the  year  a  bindery  for  the  Society's  publications 
has  been  established  under  the  same  roof  as  the  general  de- 
pository. The  necessity  of  having  the  whole  business  of  the 
Board  conducted  under  its  immediate  superintendence,  and  the 
increasing  amount  of  that  business  render  it  indispensable  in 
the  view  of  your  Board  that  some  suitable  building  should 
be  erected  in  this  city  for  the  accommodation  of  the  Society. 
They  are  desirous  of  drawing  the  attention  of  the  citizens  of 
Philadelphia  to  this  object,  believing  that  they  would  will- 

I  Report,  1828,  p.  3.  *  Ibid.,  p.  4. 


HOUSING  THE  INSTITUTION  287 

ingly  afford  that  aid  to  the  only  charitable  Society  strictly 
national,  having  its  seat  here,  which  the  inhabitants  of  a 
neighboring  city  have  so  nobly  furnished  to  two  of  our  na- 
tional societies  located  among  them."1 

By  1845  the  Union  again  found  the  "buildings  designed  for 
a  dwelling  house"  unsuitable  and  too  straitened  for  business 
purposes.  "Since  that  building  was  purchased,"  the  managers 
said,  "our  publications  and  the  weight  of  our  stock  have  in- 
creased nearly  five-fold,  and  of  course  the  inconvenience  and 
unsuitableness  of  our  premises  were  proportionably  aggra- 
vated." The  entire  premises  were  rebuilt  and  completed  for 
occupation  in  December,  1845.  Additional  contributions 
were  received  from  the  citizens  of  Philadelphia  to  aid  in  this 
rebuilding,  which  cost  about  $20,000.2 

Again  in  1853  the  Union  found  its  buildings  too  limited  and 
unsuitable  for  its  work.  The  managers  declared  the  demand 
for  room  to  transact  the  business  of  the  Society  could  not  be 
met  on  the  premises  (146  Chestnut  Street).  The  location  was 
central  and  the  front  on  Chestnut  Street  ample,  but  there  was 
no  access  to  the  rear  of  the  buildings  and  there  was  not  suffi- 
cient available  space  for  a  suitable  warehouse  in  the  rear  of 
the  lot,  and  the  surrounding  buildings  were  so  crowded  and 
high  as  to  make  the  place  extra  hazardous.3  Accommoda- 
tions which  amply  sufficed  for  1817  were  too  narrow  for  1827, 
and  those  which  answered  for  1827  were  not  adequate  to  the 
necessities  of  1847.4 

For  these,  among  other  reasons,  the  Union  purchased  a  new 
site  on  Chestnut  Street  above  Eleventh — 316,  later  1122, 
Chestnut  Street — on  which  they  erected  a  new  building, 
ample  and  convenient  for  the  various  branches  of  the  busi- 
ness, and  which  was  occupied  at  the  close  of  that  year  (1853). 
A  special  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Officers  and  Managers, 
with  the  agents  and  missionaries  nearby,  was  held  February  2, 
1854,  in  recognition  of  the  entrance  into  this  new  building. 
They  state  that  the  exercises  of  the  occasion  were  peculiarly 
impressive. 

This  new  building  occupied  the  entire  lot  between  Eleventh 
and  Twelfth  streets— 30  feet  front  on  Chestnut  Street  by  229 

>  Report,  1826,  p.  viii.  »  Report,  1846,  pp.  10-15. 

»  Report,  1853,  p.  35.  «  Report,  1854,  p.  67. 


288  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

feet  deep,  extending  back  to  George,  now  Sansom,  Street. 
Many  of  the  friends  of  the  Union  regarded  this  as  a  move  "out 
into  the  country"  at  that  time.  The  building  was  designed 
by  a  well-known  architect,  John  Mc Arthur,  Jr.,  and  was 
counted  a  fully  up-to-date  building  for  the  operations  of  the 
Union.  The  cost  of  the  lot  and  of  the  new  buildings,  includ- 
ing the  furnishing,  was  $71,876.18.  From  the  various  records 
of  the  Society,  it  appears  that  the  citizens  of  Philadelphia  had 
contributed  sums  additional  to  those  already  mentioned  for 
the  buildings,  the  total  amount  being  represented  as  $54,276.18, 
and  the  balance  on  this  new  building,  in  1854,  was  secured  by 
a  mortgage  of  S^^OO.1 

The  front  of  this  new  building  on  Chestnut  Street  was  of 
Quincy  granite;  the  salesroom  being  on  the  first  floor  and  the 
rear  part  of  the  building  being  occupied  as  a  shipping-room. 
The  second  and  third  stories  front  were  divided  into  rooms 
for  managers,  committees,  editors,  secretary  of  missions  and 
agents.  The  fourth  floor  front  was  appropriated  to  the 
storage  of  maps,  charts,  and  special  Sunday-school  requisites 
issued  by  the  Society.  The  rear  portion  of  the  building  was  a 
warehouse  of  five  stories,  in  which  was  the  principal  stock  of 
books  and  other  publications  of  the  Society,  classified  by 
titles,  some  in  sheets  and  some  in  bound  copies.  On  the 
Quincy  granite  front  was  engraved  the  corporate  seal  of  the 
Society,  consisting  of  two  hands  clasped  in  a  wreath  of 
olives. 

This  building  continued  to  be  the  headquarters  of  the 
Union  for  more  than  half  a  century.  Various  alterations  and 
additions  were  made  to  it  during  the  period  to  meet  the 
changing  demands  of  the  publication  work.  Chief  among 
these  was  the  addition  of  the  "Teachers'  Hall  and  Parlor," 
which  was  built  in  the  second  story  between  the  offices  and 
the  warehouse.  This  provided  a  suitable  place  for  holding 
teachers'  meetings  conducted  by  the  Union,  which  were  begun 
in  January,  1878.  The  free  use  of  this  hall  or  assembly  room 
when  not  required  for  the  Society's  business  meetings  was 
granted  to  various  religious  and  benevolent  organizations  for 
meetings,  such  as  the  McAll  Mission,  Women's  Bible  Readers 
Society,  Women's  Union  Missionary  Society  of  America,  Fe- 

•  Reports,  1854,  p.  70;  1858,  p.  62. 


HOUSING  THE  INSTITUTION  289 

male  Domestic  Missionary  Society.  The  hall  was  also  used  for 
meetings  of  ministers,  teachers,  Sunday-school  organizations, 
and  others  interested  in  the  moral  and  religious  training  of 
youth.  It  cost  about  $5,000,  of  which  the  late  John  R.  Whit- 
ney obtained  about  three-fifths,  and  the  balance  was  provided 
by  the  Society. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  twentieth  century,  the  Union  found 
its  business  had  so  changed  as  again  to  render  the  building, 
which  was  once  well  suited  for  its  work,  out  of  date  and  call- 
ing for  expensive  changes  to  adapt  it  to  these  new  condi- 
tions. As  the  site  had  become  valuable,  the  managers,  after 
prolonged  deliberation,  were  led  to  believe  that  a  new  site 
and  a  new  building  in  a  less  expensive  location  would  be  an 
advantage,  as  it  would  enable  them  to  make  a  building  suit- 
able for  their  purpose  and  also  to  have  a  general  fund  left  from 
the  proceeds  of  the  sale  of  the  old  building  to  provide  for  the 
maintenance  of  the  new  one  or  for  the  larger  prosecution  of 
the  publication  work.  In  consequence  of  this  belief,  the 
Society  sold  the  property  at  1122  Chestnut  Street  for  $325,000, 
purchased  a  lot  and  dwelling  of  about  the  same  size  at  1816 
Chestnut  Street,  between  Eighteenth  and  Nineteenth  streets, 
for  $125,000,  and  reluctantly  left  the  place  hallowed  by  many 
memories.  On  the  rear  of  this  new  lot  they  built  a  new  fire- 
proof warehouse  of  reinforced  concrete  and  altered  the  front 
building  into  offices  adapted  to  the  work  of  the  Society  in  all 
its  departments,  at  a  total  cost,  for  new  buildings  and  altera- 
tions, including  the  furnishings,  of  about  $185,000. 

By  this  sale  and  removal  in  1907,  the  Union  saved  a  general 
fund  of  upward  of  $125,000,  the  income  of  which  could  be 
devoted  to  the  maintenance  of  the  new  building  and  the 
prosecution  of  the  publication  work  of  the  Society,  in  accord 
with  the  intent  of  the  generous  donors. 

This  new  building,  fronting  on  Chestnut  Street,  has  the 
salesroom  on  the  first  floor,  with  offices  for  business  superin- 
tendent and  treasurer  and  a  counting  room.  On  the  second 
floor  is  the  assembly  or  teachers'  hall,  for  the  meetings  of 
teachers  and  of  the  Society.  The  use  of  this  hall  is  freely 
accorded  also  to  other  evangelical  organizations  for  meetings 
for  business  and  devotional  purposes.  The  upper  portions  of 
the  front  building  were  made  into  offices  for  the  use  of  those 


290  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

engaged  in  the  editorial  and  missionary  work  of  the  Society, 
including  a  library  and  a  historical  museum.  On  the  rear  of 
the  lot  stands  the  new  warehouse  where  supplies  of  publica- 
tions of  the  Society  are  stored.  The  first  floor  is  occupied  as  a 
shipping-room  and  the  upper  floor  as  a  bindery  and  folding- 
room.  In  the  basement  is  a  large  vault  for  holding  the  electro- 
types and  engravings  of  the  Society.  The  printing  and  manu- 
facturing for  the  Union  has  always  been  done  by  contract  in 
the  open  market.     It  has  never  owned  a  printing  house. 

Around  these  buildings,  especially  the  Quincy  granite  front 
building  at  1122  Chestnut  Street  which  was  occupied  for 
more  than  half  a  century,  many  memories  clustered,  making 
it  hard  for  the  older  managers  and  workers  to  break  away  from 
these  associations.  These  changes  in  its  headquarters,  however, 
plainly  indicate  that  the  Society  does  not  intend  to  become 
"moss-grown,"  nor  to  stay  in  a  rut,  but  is  as  eager  now  as  it 
ever  has  been  to  increase  its  efficiency  and  to  march  in  the 
front  rank  of  progress  for  the  religious  education  of  this 
country.1 

The  London  Sunday-School  Union,  formed  in  Surrey 
Chapel,  erected  a  Jubilee  Memorial  Building,  56  Old  Bailey, 
London,  which  was  formally  opened  October,  1856.  This 
gave  an  opportunity  to  concentrate  the  Society's  work  and 
to  afford  rooms  for  various  local  auxiliaries  to  hold  con- 
ferences and  committee  meetings  f acilitating  the  growth  of 
its  work.  In  1892  the  trade  and  publication  department  was 
removed  to  57  and  59  Ludgate  Hill,  to  relieve  the  congested 
conditions  in  the  Memorial  Building  and  to  accommodate  the 
various  training  and  normal  classes  for  teachers  and  for  special 
examinations  conducted  under  the  auspices  of  the  London 
Union.  The  Union  also  aims  to  provide  holiday  homes  for 
poor  or  sick  children,  rest  homes  for  teachers  and  a  convales- 
cent home  for  scholars,  by  the  seaside  or  in  the  country,  all  of 
which  work  is  directed  from  the  central  building  in  London. 

Housing  Denominational  Sunday-School  Organizations. — 
In  America  the  Sunday-school  organizations  of  the  leading 
denominations  may  not  be  ideally,  but  are  comfortably,  housed. 
Some  of  them  occupy  palatial  buildings  costing  from  $1,000,000 

1  For  a  further  account  of  the  laying  of  the  cornerstone,  see  The  Sunday-School  World, 
1907,  pp.  157,  158. 


HOUSING  THE  INSTITUTION  291 

upward.  Brief  mention  of  a  few  will  be  sufficient  to  indicate 
the  general  character  of  the  buildings  without  a  detailed 
description. 

The  Sunday-school  headquarters  of  the  Northern  Baptist 
Convention  is  in  the  handsome  edifice  of  the  American  Baptist 
Publication  Society,  Chestnut  and  17th  Streets,  Philadelphia, 
Pennsylvania.  From  this  center  go  millions  of  copies  of 
periodicals  and  aids  for  Baptist  Sunday-schools,  including 
"The  Baptist  Teacher,"  as  prepared  in  the  commodious  offices 
occupied  by  the  editorial  force.  The  circulation  of  their  pub- 
lications is  said  to  be  among  the  largest  of  their  kind  in  the 
country,  and  are  specially  intended  for  Baptists. 

The  Sunday-school  work  of  the  Southern  Baptist  Conven- 
tion centers  in  the  modern  imposing  white-faced  brick  building 
in  Nashville,  Tennessee,  having  commodious  rooms  for  those 
who  aim  to  meet  the  demands  of  the  Southern  Baptist  Sunday- 
schools. 

The  Publishing  Board  of  the  National  Baptist  Convention 
(Colored)  has  a  large  plant,  not  very  new,  in  Nashville,  but 
wishes  to  build  a  new  modern  structure  for  the  housing  of  its 
Sunday-school  publishing  work  for  the  colored  Baptists  of  the 
South. 

The  Sunday-school  and  publishing  work  of  the  Brethren 
occupies  a  large  modern  and  substantial  brick  edifice  in  Elgin, 
Illinois,  where  is  prepared  much  of  the  literature  for  that  de- 
nomination. 

The  Congregational  Sunday-school  and  Publishing  Society 
is  housed  within  the  commodious  and  well-known  Congrega- 
tional House  on  Beacon  Street,  Boston,  Mass.,  which  furnishes 
"The  Pilgrim  Teacher"  and  literature  relative  to  all  phases 
of  modern  Bible  study,  teacher  training,  and  denominational 
activities  characteristic  of  the  modern  Pilgrim  and  Congre- 
gational family. 

The  Sunday-school  work  of  the  Evangelical  Association  has 
its  home  with  the  other  activities  of  the  denomination  in 
buildings  not  very  modern  in  Cleveland,  Ohio,  which  have 
been  adapted  to  their  purpose. 

The  Sunday-school  work  of  the  Lutheran  General  Council 
will  occupy  quarters  in  its  new  publishing  house  in  Philadel- 
phia, and  the  Bible  work  of  the  Lutheran  General  Synod  is  also 


292  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

in  another  building  devoted  to  publications  of  that  denomina- 
tion in  the  same  city. 

The  Bible  study  and  the  Sunday-school  activities  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  occupy  spacious  rooms  in  several 
buildings  in  three  great  cities.  The  first  may  be  found  in  the 
large  and  valuable  edifice  of  the  "Book  Concern,"  on  Fifth 
Avenue,  New  York  City;  the  second,  in  a  new  and  palatial 
structure  in  Chicago,  Illinois;  the  third,  in  Cincinnati,  Ohio. 
From  these  centers  issue  "The  Sunday-School  Journal"  and 
the  "Christian  Advocates,"  and  other  literature  to  the  large 
numbers  of  Methodist  adherents  throughout  the  Northern 
United  States. 

The  Biblical  literature  for  Methodist  Sunday-schools  and 
churches  for  the  South  centers  in  the  imposing  gray-stone 
building  in  Nashville,  Tennessee,  where  commodious  rooms  are 
provided  for  the  publication  of  its  Sunday-school  and  other 
literature. 

The  Presbyterian  Board  of  Publication  and  Sabbath-School 
Work  occupies  ample  space  in  the  palatial  eleven-story  Wither- 
spoon  Building  in  Philadelphia,  which  it  shares  with  some  other 
organizations  of  the  same  church,  and  furnishes  "The  West- 
minster Teacher,"  with  an  ample  supply  of  literature  for  the 
denomination.  The  Home  and  Foreign  Mission  work  of  that 
church  has  headquarters  in  the  magnificent  building  on  Fifth 
Avenue,  New  York  City. 

The  Sunday-school  headquarters  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
in  the  United  States  (South)  is  with  the  Publication  Com- 
mittee of  that  denomination  in  its  building  that  is  modern, 
homelike  and  commodious,  in  Richmond,  Virginia. 

The  Sabbath-school  work  of  the  United  Presbyterian  Church 
finds  a  home  with  the  Board  of  Publication  of  that  denomina- 
tion in  its  old  but  commodious  building  in  Pittsburgh,  Penn- 
sylvania. 

The  Reformed  Church  in  America  (Dutch)  has  its  Sunday- 
school  quarters  with  its  Board  of  Education  in  22d  Street, 
New  York  City.  While  the  Reformed  Church  in  the  United 
States  (German)  has  its  Sunday-school  home  with  its  Board 
of  Publication  in  a  new,  modern  edifice  in  Philadelphia, 
Penna. 

The  Bible  work  of  the  United  Brethren  is  cared  for  in  their 


HOUSING  THE  INSTITUTION  293 

Publication  House  in  Dayton,  Ohio,  which  is  new,  modern 
and  commodious. 

A  number  of  the  denominational  Sunday-school  organiza- 
tions also  have  separate  large  manufacturing  plants  for  print- 
ing their  literature.  The  American  Bible  Society,  which  fur- 
nishes Bibles  and  Testaments  for  Sunday-schools,  and  for  all 
people,  possesses  a  large  square  on  which  is  an  old  historic 
building  and  valuable  premises,  well  known  as  the  "Bible 
House,"  Astor  Place,  New  York  City. 

Most  of  the  other  Sunday-school  organizations  of  the  Prot- 
estant denomination  (thirty  or  more)  are  sheltered,  if  not 
commodiously  housed,  in  buildings  or  edifices  of  their  own, 
in  different  parts  of  the  country,  so  located  that  they  are  ac- 
cessible to  the  majority  of  their  constituents.  From  this  very 
brief  sketch  it  will  be  inferred  perhaps  that  the  Sunday-school 
organizations  are  sometimes  comparatively  better  housed 
than  their  individual  or  local  schools.  It  may  be  further  in- 
ferred that  there  is  room  for  a  large  improvement  in  the  struc- 
ture and  arrangement  of  the  buildings  now  occupied.  The 
plans  of  the  more  expensive  edifices  even  have  not  been  de- 
signed always  with  the  view  of  adapting  them  to  further  the 
most  efficient  work  of  the  occupants.  Many  need  to  be  better 
equipped  for  promoting  as  they  should  the  progress  of  all 
phases  of  the  religious  education  of  the  people. 


SECTION  IX 

INTERNATIONAL  LESSONS — 1872-1925 

Uniform  and  Graded 

The  system  of  International  Lessons  did  not  spring  up  in 
a  night,  although  its  enthusiastic  adoption  was  a  surprise. 
The  plan  was  the  culmination  of  a  long  series  of  experiments 
with  systems  of  biblical  study.  Roughly  speaking,  there 
were  not  less  than  five  eras  or  stages  leading  up  to  the  Uni- 
form Lesson  System  of  1872.  When  the  modern  Sunday- 
school  movement  began,  its  curriculum  of  study  did  not  rise 
above  the  prevailing  theories  of  education.  These  were  so 
confusing  and  even  contradictory  that  Jean  Paul  Richter 
said  of  them  that  "they  were  a  jumble  equal  to  those  produced 
by  a  harlequin  on  the  stage  who  brought  a  bundle  of  orders 
under  one  arm,  which  he  delivered,  followed  by  a  bundle  of 
counter-orders  under  the  other  arm."  But  a  few  clear  and 
definite  principles  of  education  were  beginning  to  emerge. 

Preparedness  for  Them. — 1.  The  first  stage  was  the  read- 
ing and  spelling  era.  The  introduction  of  the  free  public 
school  system  in  America  soon  rendered  this  form  of  Sunday- 
school  work  largely  unnecessary. 

2.  The  second  was  the  memorizing  era,  when  pupils  re- 
ceived rewards  and  prizes  for  committing  to  memory  the 
greatest  number  of  verses  from  the  Bible  and  from  hymns. 
This  was  widely  popular  in  Great  Britain  and  in  America. 

3.  This  was  followed  in  Great  Britain  by  a  "Lesson  System," 
revised  and  exploited  by  James  Gall  of  Edinburgh,  Scotland. 
Its  use  was  less  general  elsewhere. 

4.  The  simultaneous  instruction  method  of  Robert  Mim- 
priss  had  warm  advocates  and  served  a  useful  purpose,  but 
was  limited  chiefly  to  lessons  from  the  Gospels,  and  was  not 
widely  adopted  in  America. 

294 


INTERNATIONAL  LESSONS— 1872-1925         295 

5.  The  training  system  of  David  Stow  likewise  won  many 
advocates,  especially  those  interested  in  infant  or  beginners' 
classes. 

Overlapping  these  later  plans  in  England  was  the  "Col- 
lective System"  of  lessons  by  the  London  Sunday-School 
Union.  This  was  topical,  but  the  Bible  texts  were  too  long 
for  the  younger  classes,  being  suited  chiefly  to  advanced  Bible 
classes,  and  failed  to  provide  a  satisfactory  knowledge  of  the 
entire  Scriptures  for  all  ages.  These  systems,  overlapping  one 
another,  were  more  or  less  simultaneous  in  their  use  in  differ- 
ent localities.  Each  was  introduced  into  America,  but,  after 
gaining  some  local  popularity,  was  laid  aside — none  of  them 
attaining  general  adoption. 

In  America  similar  systems  can  be  roughly  indicated,  though 
they  overlapped  each  other  here  as  abroad.  Following  the 
first  two  stages  (1)  of  reading  and  (2)  memorizing,  there  came 
in  America  (3)  a  story-telling  or  lecture  stage,  described  in 
another  section  of  this  history.  Succeeding  this  era  of  lectur- 
ing and  of  story-telling,  which  was  neither  so  long  in  duration 
nor  so  widely  popular  in  America  as  the  memorizing  era,  came 

(4)  The  "Limited  Uniform  Lesson  Plan"  of  1825  and  on. 
The  origin  of  this  plan  is  elsewhere  noted.  It  was  not  based 
upon,  but  antedated  Gall's  "Lesson  System"  here,  though 
Gall's  work  had  some  influence  in  shaping  the  helps  upon  the 
Limited  Uniform  Lesson  System  five  years  later,  about  1830. 

Nor  was  this  uniform  system  based  upon  the  memorizing 
of  a  "verse  a  day"  plan,  prevalent  among  the  Moravians. 
There  was  an  unsuccessful  attempt  widely  to  introduce  these 
seven  verses  as  the  topic  of  weekly  study.  The  verses  were 
selected  consecutively  from  Scripture,  but  often  ended  in  the 
middle  of  a  topic  or  narrative,  and  were,  for  this  and  other 
reasons,  counted  unsatisfactory  and  unsuitable  for  a  weekly 
lesson  study  in  the  Sunday-schools. 

The  Limited  Uniform  Lessons  (1825),  in  general  use  for  a 
generation,  were  followed,  as  elsewhere  stated,  by  lessons  put- 
ting special  emphasis  on  denominational  doctrines. 

(5)  The  Independent  Lesson  plan  or  so-called  "Babel  Series." 
Each  denomination  and  prominent  Sunday-school  publishing 
house  put  forth  a  scheme  of  lessons  of  its  own,  putting 
emphasis  upon  its  creed,  or  planned  to  suit  its  constituency. 


296  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

The  era  of  this  "Babel"  series  of  lessons  prevailed,  roughly, 
for  about  twenty  years  (1850-1872).  Dr.  Sampey  supposes 
that  it  held  sway  for  forty  years.1  But  the  Limited  Lesson 
scheme  held  sway  through  the  Union  Questions,  endorsed  by 
the  National  Convention  of  1833,  and  continued  to  be  widely 
used  until  after  1850.  The  National  Sunday-School  Conven- 
tion so  late  as  1859  approved  of  the  system  in  Union  Ques- 
tions as  one  of  the  best  extant  for  the  use  of  many  scholars 
in  Sunday-schools. 

Mimpriss's  simultaneous  instruction  scheme,  published  in 
1838,  and  the  two  schemes  of  the  London  Sunday-School 
Union  in  1840-1842,  pointed  rather  to  the  independent  than 
to  the  uniform  principle  of  lesson  study.  The  list  of  the 
London  Union  for  1842  suggested  a  uniform  topic  of  study  for 
the  different  departments  of  schools  using  their  series.  They 
did  not,  however,  contemplate  a  general  uniform  scheme  of 
lessons  like  the  International  Lessons  of  1872,  nor  did  the 
system  have  so  many  features  of  uniformity  as  the  Limited 
Uniform  Lessons  of  1825-1850  in  America.  There  was  noth- 
ing in  the  list  of  lessons  prepared  for  Sabbath-schools  in  Scot- 
land suggestive  of  the  later  or  earlier  Uniform  Lesson  schemes. 

In  America  the  Civil  War  conspicuously  emphasized  the 
peril  of  division  to  society  and  religion.  Hence  it  did  much 
to  lessen  denominational  prejudice.  Its  influence,  however, 
upon  series  of  lessons  for  Sunday-school  study  was  not  imme- 
diate. The  "Babel"  series  continued  to  multiply.  Among 
them  were  "Lessons  for  every  Sunday  in  the  year,"  by  Orange 
Judd,  used  widely  in  Methodist  Episcopal  churches  (1862- 
1867);  lessons  in  The  Chicago  Sunday-School  Teachers'  Quarterly 
(afterward  The  National  Sunday-School  Teacher),  edited  suc- 
cessively by  John  H.  Vincent,  J.  L.  Hammond,  C.  R.  Blackall 
and  Edward  Eggleston.  The  "Berean  Series"  of  lessons,  by 
John  H.  Vincent  (which  superseded  Judd's  Lessons);  Henry 
C.  McCook's  "Westminster  Series"  used  widely  in  the  Pres- 
byterian Church,  while  the  undenominational,  rural,  and 
Union  schools  used  the  "Explanatory"  and  "Union  Series"  of 
lessons,  prepared  by  Dr.  Richard  Newton  and  Dr.  S.  Austin 
Allibone,  of  the  American  Sunday-School  Union  (1868-1872). 

Another  important  influence  preceding  the  International 

1  International  Lesson  System,  p.  32. 


INTERNATIONAL  LESSONS— 1872-1925         297 

Uniform  System  of  study  was  the  Sunday-school  institute 
movement.  Dr.  Simeon  Gilbert  thinks  that  uniform  lessons 
would  never  have  been  practicable  had  it  not  been  for  "this 
institute  movement  which  preceded  it."1  Horace  Mann 
founded  the  normal  school  system  of  his  state  (1837-1848), 
and  advocated  reforms  in  teaching  and  improving  teachers  at 
conventions,  through  lectures,  addresses  and  reports,  which 
virtually  revolutionized  the  common  school  system.  Dr. 
Henry  Barnard,  among  others,  was  active  in  conducting 
normal  schools  or  institutes  where,  for  a  brief  period,  sys- 
tematic instruction  was  given  on  methods  of  teaching  and  of 
instruction.  This  idea  was  conceived  also  by  Sunday-school 
leaders  and  applied  to  their  work.  Among  the  foremost 
national  workers  in  this  line  was  Richard  G.  Pardee  of  New 
York.  Others  of  prominence  in  the  same  work  were  Henry 
Clay  Trumbull  and  Ralph  Wells  for  the  East,  and  John  H. 
Vincent,  D.  L.  Moody,  J.  V.  Farwell  in  Chicago,  and  Alexan- 
der Tyng,  Stephen  Paxson,  William  G.  Reynolds,  B.  W.  Chid- 
law  and  E.  W.  Rice,  in  the  Middle  West. 

A  uniform  topic  of  study  in  the  same  school  was  warmly 
advocated  in  Sunday-school  teachers'  institutes  held  from 
1862  to  1869.  The  agitation  of  this  idea  among  teachers  at 
institutes  and  conventions  created  a  state  of  ferment  out  of 
which  some  remarkable  changes  were  expected  to  emerge. 
The  institute  was  the  chief  agency  for  crystallizing  the  new 
uniform  idea.  The  convention  exploited  it  with  enthusiasm. 
Besides  these,  there  were  influences  molding  and  developing 
the  idea  in  small,  deliberative  companies  of  leaders,  who  dis- 
cussed, from  time  to  time,  the  best  types  of  uniform  study. 
Edward  Eggleston  voiced  the  sentiment  of  a  large  number: 

One  lesson  for  the  school — the  same  in  the  Bible  classes,  the 
main  school  and  the  infant  class,  but  adapted  by  teachers  to  the 
capacities  and  wants  of  each,  is  .  .  .  the  foundation  for  all 
true  advancement.  It  gives  concentration,  oneness,  heart,  life, 
success.  .  .  .  Without  a  uniform  lesson  there  can  be  no 
teachers'  meeting;  general  exercises  are  impossible;  unity  of 
thought  in  hymns  and  prayer  is  out  of  the  question;  the  moral 
power  of  a  large  number  studying  the  same  passage  is  destroyed. 
There  can  be  no  such  thing  as  an  effective  school  without  a  uni- 
form lesson  of  some  kind.2 

1  The  Lesson  System,  p.  22. 

8  Eggleston' s  Manual,  pp.  10,  11,  Chicago,  1869. 


298  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

If  such  a  system  of  study  could  be  effective  in  one  school,  why 
not  in  all  schools? 

These  views  were  considered  in  the  National  Sunday-School 
Convention  of  1869.     Dr.  Trumbull  states: 

The  wish  was  again  and  again  expressed  by  individuals,  period- 
icals, and  local  associations,  that  the  same  portion  of  Scripture 
should  be  studied  week  by  week  in  all  the  land.  Various  un- 
successful attempts  to  unite  the  several  publishing  houses  on  a 
common  series  were  made  from  year  to  year.  At  last  the  aid  of 
the  Executive  Committee  of  the  National  Sunday-School  Con- 
vention was  earnestly  sought  for  the  furtherance  of  this  plan. 
The  movement  for  uniformity  was  popular  rather  than  personal. 
B.  F.  Jacobs  of  Chicago  became,  in  a  measure,  its  representative 
leader,  but  his  strength  in  it  was  chiefly  due  to  the  general  and 
growing  sentiment  in  its  favor  the  country  through.  Apparently 
no  publishing  society  or  house  was  originally  desirous  of  the 
experiment.  Most  of  the  prominent  Sunday-school  men  of  the 
nation  doubted  both  its  feasibility  and  its  desirableness.  It 
was  the  common  people  of  the  United  States — the  great  mass  of 
Bible  students  through  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  land — 
who  pressed  for  it,  creating  a  public  sentiment  in  its  behalf  not 
easily  resisted.1 

Committee  Conferences. — Prominent  Sunday-school  leaders 
met  in  conference  at  Plainfield,  New  Jersey,  with  John  H. 
Vincent.  It  was  clear  that  several  were  decidedly  opposed  to 
the  Uniform  Lesson  idea.  The  subject  was  again  brought 
before  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  National  Sunday- 
School  Convention  at  New  York,  July  10,  1871.  Of  this 
committee,  Edward  Eggleston  was  chairman,  and  H.  Clay 
Trumbull,  secretary.  As  a  result  of  its  deliberations,  it  was 
affirmed  that  "The  Sunday-school  cause  in  our  country 
would  be  greatly  promoted  if  the  publishers  of  Sunday-school 
lessons  would  unite  on  a  uniform  series  of  topics  for  the 
lessons  of  1872."  To  carry  out  this  action,  the  Executive 
Committee  appointed  B.  F.  Jacobs,  Alfred  Taylor  and  J.  S. 
Ostrander  to  convey  this  sentiment  to  the  publishers  and  to 
urge  upon  them  such  conference  as  may  "lead  to  this  co- 
operation. "  This  committee  recommended  that  a  confer- 
ence be  held  in  the  Bible  House,  New  York,  August  8,  1871. 

Twenty-nine  representatives  of  Sunday-school  publishing 
societies  and  houses  responded  to  this  call  and  met  in  New 
York  to  discuss  the  question  of  uniformity  in  Bible  lessons. 

1  Report  National  Sunday-School  Convention,  1872,  p.  20. 


INTERNATIONAL  LESSONS— 1872-1925         299 

"Some,"  says  Secretary  Trumbull,  "opposed  it  on  theoretical 
grounds,  others  saw  practical  difficulties  in  its  way.  Some 
were  decidedly  in  its  favor  if  all  would  adopt  their  series  of 
lessons.  Others  were  quite  willing  to  try  the  experiment, 
while  doubtful  of  its  success.  A  few  advocated  it  warmly. 
Nearly  all  admitted  the  fact  of  a  strong  public  sentiment  in  its 
favor." 

Finally  they  agreed,  by  a  vote  of  26  to  3,  to  appoint  a  com- 
mittee who  should  select  a  trial  list  of  Uniform  Lesson  topics 
for  Sunday-school  study  for  the  year  1872.  It  was  under- 
stood that  this  would  be  an  experimental  list  to  test  whether 
it  was  a  workable  plan.  The  committee  consisted  of  Edward 
Eggleston  of  The  National  Sunday-School  Teacher;  Richard 
Newton,  editor  of  the  periodicals  of  the  American  Sunday- 
School  Union;  John  H.  Vincent  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Sunday-School  Union;  Henry  C.  McCook  of  the  Presbyterian 
Board  of  Publication;  and  B.  F.  Jacobs,  Baptist,  of  Chicago. 
Three  of  the  committee — Edward  Eggleston,  J.  H.  Vincent 
and  Henry  C.  McCook — after  consultation,  decided  it  was  im- 
possible to  agree  upon  a  satisfactory  scheme  of  lessons  for 
1872  and  issued  a  public  announcement  to  that  effect.  But 
the  next  morning,  influenced  by  Mr.  Jacobs,  the  decision  was 
reversed  and  the  committee  selected  a  course  of  lessons  for 
1872  that  the  experiment  of  Uniform  Lessons  might  be  tried.1 

One  of  the  chief  difficulties  was  to  decide  upon  what  prin- 
ciple or  plan  the  lessons  should  be  selected.  This  was  a  hard 
problem  to  solve.  Different  plans  were  proposed:  (1)  That 
doctrinal  studies  be  made  the  basis  of  the  plan;  (2)  that  prac- 
tical duties  be  the  foundation;  (3)  that  the  plan  follow  the 
liturgical  readings  of  the  ecclesiastical  year,  recognizing  Christ- 
mas, Easter,  and  other  similar  holy  days.  Each  of  these  plans 
had  strong  advocates  and  the  battle  was  on,  as  it  was  tersely 
described,  for  "doctrines,  duties,  or  days,"  and  at  last  a  com- 
promise was  effected  on  the  basis  of  a  study  of  the  Bible  as  a 
whole;  that  is,  a  scheme  which  would  include  a  study  of  the 
entire  Scriptures  and  therefore  virtually  would  include  all  the 
features  of  the  other  three  plans  proposed. 

But  other  obstacles  confronted  this  plan.     Several  of  the 

1  Report  National  Sunday-School  Convention,  1872.  Simeon  Gilbert,  The  Lesson 
System,  p.  48,  ff. 


300  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

editors  and  publishers  had  already  outlined  schemes  of  lessons 
for  the  year  1872,  and  naturally  wanted  their  selection  in 
whole  or  in  part  woven  into  the  proposed  lesson  scheme.  For 
the  sake  of  peace,  this  was  done.  The  new  scheme  was  made 
up  of  three  or  four  quite  diverse  selections  of  lessons  already 
decided  upon,  chiefly  by  The  National  Sunday-School  Teacher 
of  Chicago,  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Book  Concern  of  New 
York,  and  one  quarter's  lessons  chosen  by  the  committee. 

The  plan  of  study  for  1872  included  twelve  lessons  upon 
" Jesus  after  His  Ascension' '  (Acts,  Hebrews  and  Revelation), 
and  a  review;  twelve  lessons  upon  Elisha  and  Israel,  and  a 
review;  twelve  lessons  in  the  Epistles,  and  a  review;  and 
twelve  lessons  upon  Daniel  and  his  times,  and  a  review. 

It  is  remarkable  that  this  imperfect,  "patchwork"  list  of 
lessons  should  have  satisfied  the  Sunday-schools  of  America, 
that  a  uniform  system  of  study  was  workable  and  feasible,  or 
that  it  should  have  led  to  the  enthusiastic  adoption  of  Uniform 
Lessons. 

The  System  Approved  by  the  American  Sunday-School 
Union. — When  this  trial  list  of  new  Uniform  Lessons  was 
agreed  upon,  there  were  upward  of  fifteen  publishing  societies 
and  houses,  providing  as  many  different  series  of  lessons  for 
the  use  of  Sunday-schools  in  the  United  States.  The  most 
prominent  of  these  were  the  series  by  The  National  Sunday- 
School  Teacher  of  Chicago,  the  "Berean  series,"  the  "West- 
minster series,"  and  the  new  "Explanatory  series"  of  the 
Union.  The  Berean  and  Westminster  series  were  denomina- 
tional. The  Explanatory  series  of  the  Union  were  intended 
for  rural  schools,  embracing  members  of  various  denomina- 
tions. The  American  Sunday-School  Union  was  repre- 
sented at  this  conference  of  publishers  by  its  editor,  Dr.  New- 
ton, who  was  made  chairman  of  the  sub-committee  for  the 
selection  of  the  lessons  for  1872,  and  by  Henry  Clay  Trumbull, 
secretary  of  the  National  Executive  Committee,  proposing  the 
movement,  who  was  also  New  England  secretary  of  the 
Union.  The  Union  naturally  favored  the  principle  of  uni- 
form lessons,  as  it  had  issued  a  series  of  lessons  on  this  uniform 
principle  a  generation  earlier.  Moreover,  it  had  just  called 
from  the  Middle  West  a  missionary  superintendent  and  in- 
stitute worker,  the  Rev.  Edwin  W.  Rice,  to  a  responsible  posi- 


INTERNATIONAL  LESSONS— 1872-1925         301 

tion  on  its  editorial  staff.  He  at  once  proposed  to  secure  a 
foremost  biblical  scholar  to  prepare  helps  on  the  new  Uniform 
Lessons  to  be  issued  by  the  Union.  He  suggested  Rev.  John 
Hall,  D.D.,  of  New  York,  as  eminently  fitted  for  this  service 
by  his  experience  in  Sunday-school  work  and  his  high  reputa- 
tion as  an  expository  preacher  and  biblical  scholar.  This 
proposal  was  heartily  concurred  in  by  Dr.  Newton  and 
unanimously  approved  by  the  managers  of  the  Union. 

The  list  of  Uniform  Sunday-School  Lessons  for  1872,  as 
agreed  upon  by  the  committee  of  publishers,  was  issued  by  the 
American  Sunday-School  Union  in  The  Sunday-School  World 
October,  1871,  with  an  announcement  of  its  system  of  helps 
thereon.  Each  society  or  publishing  house  adopting  the  new 
Uniform  Lessons  was  free  to  prepare  its  own  explanations, 
analyses,  questions,  and  other  helps  on  the  lessons  for  its  con- 
stituency. The  aim  of  the  committee  representing  the  pub- 
Ushers  was  to  secure  uniformity  in  the  Scripture  subjects  only, 
and  not  a  uniformity  of  the  treatment  of  them,  or  of  methods 
of  instruction. 

The  Union  announced  its  helps  upon  these  lessons  under  the 
title  of  "The  American  Series."  Dr.  John  Hall  prepared  the 
expositions;  Dr.  Newton  furnished  "Gleanings  from  the 
Holy  Land";  Henry  Clay  Trumbull  added  "Suggestions  on 
Methods  of  Teaching  and  on  Normal  Work";  Edwin  W.  Rice 
contributed  illustrations  and  applications  and  records  of 
progress  out  of  his  experience  in  the  mission  field  and  in  con- 
ventions and  institutes  in  the  Middle  West;  John  B.  Smith 
supplied  a  weekly  review -of  the  lessoD  for  the  superintendent's 
desk;  and  Mrs.  Alice  W.  Knox  gave  suggestions  for  teachers  in 
primary  and  infant  classes.  This  combination  of  specialists 
on  the  lessons  for  the  use  of  teachers  introduced  a  marked 
advance  in  methods  of  biblical  study  and  was  widely  appre- 
ciated by  schools  throughout  the  country.  As  a  result  of 
these  teaching  helps,  the  circulation  of  The  Sunday-School 
World  increased  four-fold  or  more  within  two  years. 

Graded  Helps. — Graded  lesson  papers  and  a  Handbook  for 
scholars  also  attained  even  greater  favor  and  much  larger  cir- 
culation. A  system  of  graded  lesson  papers  for  scholars  was 
issued  in  three  grades:  (1)  For  advanced  or  adult  classes;  (2) 
for  intermediate  classes;  and  (3)  for  primary  classes.     These 


302  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

lesson  papers  for  scholars  were  different  and  distinctive  in 
each  grade,  in  their  methods  of  presenting  the  same  Bible 
text.  They  were  prepared  by  the  assistant  editor  (Rev.  E. 
W.  Rice)  in  harmony  with  the  explanations  furnished  for 
teachers  by  Dr.  Hall  in  The  Sunday-School  World.  Studies 
for  scholars  had  been  hitherto  chiefly  a  series  of  questions, 
but  these  studies  were  based  on  modern  pedagogical  principles, 
combining  explanation,  illustration,  question  and  application, 
and  were  adapted  to  successive  grades  in  the  progress  of 
child  development. 

In  addition  to  these  lesson  papers,  a  Scholars'  Handbook  on 
The  International  Lessons  was  prepared  upon  a  new  plan  by 
the  Rev.  Edwin  W.  Rice,  and  issued  by  the  Society.  "The 
Bible  text  was  printed  in  paragraphs,  while  the  verses  were 
numbered  in  the  margin.  Besides  the  central  truth,  daily 
Bible  readings  and  historical  and  geographical  information, 
there  were  brief  explanations  of  difficult  and  obscure  texts 
and  questions  for  the  scholar  to  stimulate  further  study,  to- 
gether with  illustrations,  pictures,  and  blackboard  outlines, 
with  plans  for  a  quarterly  review."  This  was,  in  fact,  a 
scholars'  commentary  on  the  Bible  text.  The  editor  of  The 
Sunday-School  Times  said  of  it: 

Somehow  the  author  is  the  only  one  who  has  thought  of  the 
scholars'  need.     All  the  helps  which  have  come  into  our  hands 
have  been  intended  for  teachers.     It  is  a  pleasure  to  find  the 
children  remembered  and  such  an  excellent  provision  made  for 
their  wants.     The  plan  is  new.  ....     .     The  best  idea  of  all  is 

the  citation  of  an  illustration  which  embodies  and  will  impress 
the  principal  moral  lesson  under  each  subject. 

Another  editor  stated : 

Do  not  complain  that  the  scholars  will  not  study  until  you  have 
seen  them  refuse  this  valuable  aid.  It  is  the  only  book  of  its 
kind  among  all  the  so-called  "helps"  on  the  lessons.  A  teacher 
recently  told  us  that  a  boy  who  seemed  losing  his  interest  in  the 
class  was  wonderfully  waked  up  by  this  Handbook,  and  knows 
something  now  when  he  comes  to  school. 

The  value  of  this  Scholars7  Handbook  is  also  indicated  by  the 
fact  that  a  close  imitation  of  it  in  all  its  chief  new  features 
was  soon  after  issued  by  one  of  the  largest  denominations  in 
the  United  States,  and  another  denomination  issued  an  edi- 
tion, adapting  it  to  the  church  year. 


INTERNATIONAL  LESSONS— 1872-1925        303 

The  system  of  instruction  and  the  plan  of  Bible  study  thus 
presented  by  the  American  Sunday-School  Union  for  teachers 
and  for  scholars  were  recognized  by  Sabbath-school  workers 
not  only  as  an  advance  in  methods  of  instruction,  but  as  mark- 
ing a  new  era  based  upon  sound  principles  of  instruction.  Thus 
its  analysis  of  the  Bible  text  displaced  the  unsatisfactory 
"mechanical"  and  "verbal"  and  "parrot-like"  question  lessons, 
and  the  lecturing  and  story-telling  which  was  discovered  to 
be  "amusing,"  rather  than  teaching.  Thus  the  five  "W's" 
(when,  where,  whom,  what,  why),  and  so-called  "new  system  of 
Sunday-school  study"  with  a  mechanical  plan  of  "four  P's 
and  four  D's"  (parallel  passages,  persons,  places;  dates,  doings, 
doctrines  and  duties)  were  declared  unsound  by  educators. 
In  fact,  they  were  an  apparent  imitation  of  a  plan  of  "heads" 
in  sermons,  used  by  old  divines  of  the  seventeenth  and  eight- 
eenth centuries  to  aid  the  memory  of  hearers.  These,  again, 
were  an  echo  from  the  more  ancient  rabbinical  plan  of  the  four 
letters  PRDS(onii)    in  the  Hebrew  word  "paradise." 

The  studies  in  the  Union  helps  were  the  plain  common-- 
sense  method  of  emphasizing  the  truths  and  phases  of  truths 
taught  in,  and  growing  out  of  the  Bible  text  itself.  They  did 
not  hamper  the  mind  nor  load  the  memory  with  merely 
mechanical  or  verbal  mnemonic  devices.  The  "helps"  com- 
pelled and  concentrated  the  attention  of  the  teacher  and 
scholar  upon  the  meaning  and  very  heart  of  the  Bible  text. 
Moreover,  to  aid  the  superintendent  in  clinching  some  great 
truth,  week  by  week  a  suggestive  review  on  each  lesson  was 
given  by  an  accomplished  superintendent. 

Primary  Class  System. — Furthermore,  the  unsatisfactory 
plan  of  conducting  the  infant  or  primary  department  as  one 
large  class  was  discarded.  The  little  more  than  parrot  reciting 
of  certain  verses,  and  amusing  the  children  with  stories,  gave 
place  to  real  teaching.  Alice  W.  Knox,  a  successful  primary 
worker,  had  applied  the  class  system  to  the  primary  depart- 
ment for  twenty  years.  This  class  plan  at  first  was  opposed 
as  impossible  or  impracticable  by  many  primary  workers  of 
that  day.  They  even  attempted  to  laugh  or  ridicule  it  "out 
of  court."  Erwin  House,  speaking  for  the  old  practice  said, 
"With  a  separate  room  and  suitable  teacher,  a  hundred  or  a 
hundred  and  fifty  are  as  easily  taught  as  forty."    In  fact, 


304  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

he  urges,  "If  you  swell  the  one  hundred  to  one  thousand, 
brightness  of  eye  and  quickness  of  heart  will  be  wonderfully 
intensified."1 

Mrs.  Knox  declared:  "It  was  easy  to  amuse  the  children  with 
a  story,  but  it  was  a  difficult  thing  to  instruct  them  so  that 
they  would  not  forget  the  truth  taught."  She  forcefully 
showed  that  it  was  violating  a  primary  principle  of  instruc- 
tion to  depend  upon  one  teacher  for  the  Primary  Department, 
because  there  were  many  children  of  different  ages,  sizes, 
capacities  and  degrees  of  mental  culture,  calling  for  specific 
care  in  the  instruction,  and  for  different  teachers  successfully 
to  give  it.  One  teacher  might  interest  and  entertain  children 
in  the  mass,  but  if  they  were  divided  into  small  classes,  with  a 
suitable  teacher  for  each  class,  they  could  be  instructed,  and 
some  effective  work  could  be  done.  It  may  surprise  Sunday- 
school  workers  now  to  be  informed  of  the  opposition  to  divid- 
ing the  Primary  Department  into  small  classes,  and  that  many 
favored  the  old  style  of  herding  the  infants  by  hundreds  into 
a  small  room  to  be  taught  by  one  teacher.  It  required  more 
than  a  decade  of  argument  and  pleading  by  advocates  like 
R.  G.  Pardee,2  John  S.  Hart,3  Ralph  Wells  and  others  who 
were  enlisted  with  Mrs.  Knox,4  to  bring  about  this  reform  in 
the  face  of  much  opposition  and  ridicule. 

Convention  of  1872. — The  adoption  and  continuance  of  the 
Uniform  Lesson  System  was  the  chief  topic  of  interest  before 
the  National  Sunday-School  Convention  held  at  Indianapolis 
in  1872.  At  this  convention  twenty-two  states  and  one  terri- 
tory of  the  United  States  were  represented  by  254  delegates, 
and  eighty-four  others  were  enrolled  as  interested  members, 
including  persons  from  Canada,  Great  Britain  and  India. 
After  prolonged  and  exciting  discussions,  the  convention  by 
an  overwhelming  majority  (only  ten  voted  nay)  authorized  the 
appointment  of  a  lesson  committee  of  ten  persons  from  the 
leading  denominations,  with  instructions  to  select  a  seven 
years'  course  of  uniform  lesson  topics  (1873-1879)  for  Sunday- 
school  study.     The  resolution  adopted  reads: 

1  Erwin  House,  Sunday-School  Manual,  p.  42. 

*  R.  G.  Pardee,  Sunday-School  Index,  p.  127. 

3  John  S.  Hart,  Thoughts  on  Sunday-Schools,  pp.  71-75. 

«  Mrs.  Alice  Knox,  Helps  for  Primary  Teachers,  passim. 


INTERNATIONAL  LESSONS— 1872-1925         305 

That  this  convention  appoint  a'committee,  to  consist  of  five 
clergymen  and  five  laymen,  to  select  a  course  of  Bible  lessons  for 
a  series  of  years  not  exceeding  seven,  which  shall,  as  far  as  they 
may  decide  possible,  embrace  a  general  study  of  the  whole  Bible, 
alternating  between  the  Old  and  New  Testaments,  semi-annually 
or  quarterly,  as  they  shall  deem  best,  and  to  publish  a  list  of  such 
lessons  as  fully  as  possible,  and  at  least  for  the  two  years  next 
ensuing  as  early  as  the  first  of  August,  1872;  and  that  this  con- 
vention recommend  their  adoption  by  the  Sunday-schools  of  the 
whole  country;  and  that  this  committee  have  power  to  fill  any 
vacancies  that  may  occur  in  their  number  by  reason  of  the  in- 
ability of  any  member  to  serve. 

The  convention  appointed  the  following  as  the  first  com- 
mittee on  Uniform  Lessons: 

Rev.  John  H.  Vincent,  D.D.  (Methodist  Episcopal),  Rev. 
John  Hall,  D.D.  (Presbyterian),  Rev.  Warren  Randolph, 
D.D.  (Baptist),  Rev.  Richard  Newton,  D.D.  (Protestant 
Episcopal),  Rev.  A.  L.  Chapin,  D.D.  (Congregationalist), 
Philip  G.  Gillett,  LL.D.  (Methodist  Episcopal),  George 
H.  Stuart  (Presbyterian),  B.  F.  Jacobs  (Baptist),  Alex- 
ander S.  Tyng  (Protestant  Episcopal),  Henry  P.  Haven 
(Congregationalist).     Rev.  J.  Monro  Gibson,  D.D.,  and 
Mr.  A.  Macallum,  from  Canada,  were  afterward  added 
to  the  committee. 
Lesson  Cycles  (1873-1918). — By  common  consent  the  Sim- 
day-school  societies  and  publishers  acquiesced  in  the  appoint- 
ment of  this  permanent  lesson  committee  (for  seven  years)  by 
the  National  Sunday-School  Convention  of  1872.     They  vir- 
tually approved  the  action  by  adopting  the  lessons  proposed, 
each  society  or  publisher  issuing  such  explanations  and  helps 
as  were  suited  to  its  own  constituency.     The  first  seven  years' 
cycle  of  lessons  was  based  upon  selecting  the  more  important 
passages  in  a  general  chronological  order  from  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, beginning  with  Genesis,  and  like  passages  from  the 
New  Testament,  and  devoting  a  half  year  (or  less)  first  to  one 
Testament,  and  then  to  the  other  Testament.     Thus,  in  a 
fragmentary  way,  the  entire  Bible  was  covered  in  the  seven 
years'   cycle   (1873-1879).     Some  years  the  alternation  be- 
tween the  Old  and  the  New  Testaments  was  made  every  three 
months,  but  usually  every  six  months.     The  lesson  texts  were 
commonly  limited  to  from  ten  to  twenty  verses  per  lesson. 
Thus  about  4,500  or  5,000  of  the  31,173  verses  (or  about  one- 


306  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

sixth  of  the  entire  Bible)  were  studied  in  the  first  seven  years' 
cycle.  The  original  intention  was  so  to  select  the  lessons  as 
substantially  to  go  over  the  entire  Bible  in  each  course,  for  the 
purpose  of  historical,  biographical  and  doctrinal  study,  in 
order  to  gain  a  general  knowledge  of  the  contents  of  the 
Scriptures  every  seven — and  later  every  six — years.  This  in- 
tention was  not  fully  realized,  as  we  shall  see.  Forty-eight 
lessons  were  selected  for  a  year's  study,  the  last  Sunday  in 
every  three  months  being  reserved  for  a  review  or  a  lesson 
selected  by  the  school.  In  1878  the  last  Sunday  of  every 
quarter  was  used  as  a  review  of  the  lessons  of  the  quarter,  or 
as  a  missionary,  temperance,  or  other  special  lesson  selected 
by  the  school 

The  second  seven  years'  cycle  (1880  to  1886)  was  upon  a 
similar  plan  except  that  the  cycle  began  with  the  Gospel 
according  to  Matthew,  and  alternated  between  the  Old  and 
New  Testaments  as  before.  A  special  feature  of  this  cycle 
was  the  consecutive  study  of  the  entire  Gospel  according  to 
Mark  in  1882.  For  the  first  two  years  of  this  .cycle,  only 
forty-four  regular  lessons  were  selected  for  each  year.  The 
review  was  transferred  to  the  last  Sunday  but  one  in  the  quar- 
ter and  the  last  Sunday  was  left  open  for  a  lesson  chosen  by 
the  school  or  for  a  missionary  lesson  during  two  quarters  and 
a  temperance  lesson  for  the  other  two  quarters  of  the  year. 
In  the  third  seven  years'  cycle  (1887  to  1893)  some  changes 
in  details  were  made,  such  as  a  year  of  continuous  studies  in 
the  Gospel  of  Luke  (1890).  Attention  was  called  to  mis- 
sionary and  temperance  topics.  The  fourth  cycle  of  lessons 
was  limited  to  six  years  (1894  to  1899)  and  more  proportionate 
time  was  given  to  studies  in  the  New  Testament  than  to  those 
in  the  Old  Testament.  The  fifth  cycle  of  lessons  (1900  to 
1905)  was  selected  by  a  new  committee  of  fifteen  members, 
most  of  them  being  clergymen,  and  many  of  them  new  mem- 
bers. They  again  co-operated  with  the  British  section  of  the 
Lesson  Committee  which  consisted  of  eight  members.  In  this 
cycle,  prominence  was  given  to  scripture  selections  of  a  bio- 
graphical nature,  just  as  in  a  previous  cycle  prominence  had 
been  given  to  material  of  a  historical  character.  The  aim  in 
introducing  the  biographical  element  was  "to  bring  forward 
the  persons  in  the  Scriptures  whose  lives  illustrated  the  pres- 


INTERNATIONAL  LESSONS— 1872-1925         307 

ence  and  will  of  God  among  men,  supreme  over  all,  the  Word 
made  flesh,  the  only  begotten  Son  of  God."  The  further 
thought  was  to  suit  the  whole  cycle  of  lessons  better  to  those 
least  able  to  select  a  course  of  lessons  for  themselves.  This 
principle  of  selection  was  not,  however,  uniformly  kept  in 
view  throughout  the  later  selections  in  this  cycle  of  the  lessons. 

The  sixth  cycle  of  lessons  (1906-1911)  was  selected  by  a 
committee  of  fifteen  (twelve  clergymen  and  three  laymen). 
They  were  instructed  to  select  one  Uniform  Lesson  for  all 
grades  of  the  Sunday-school  and  authorized  to  issue  an  op- 
tional Beginners'  Course  for  scholars  under  six  years  of  age. 
During  the  same  cycle,  two  years'  advance  courses  of  lessons 
were  recommended,  but  were  not  widely  adopted. 

The  seventh  cycle  of  lessons  was  selected  by  the  same 
number  of  members  in  the  American  section,  while  the  British 
section  of  the  Committee  was  increased  to  eighteen  members. 
During  this  period,  several  optional  courses  of  lessons  were 
proposed;  one  on  the  ethical  teachings  of  Jesus,  an  advanced 
course  of  lessons  for  Bible  classes,  and  a  graded  course  of 
lessons  was  also  suggested.1 

Moreover,  some  radical  changes  were  made  in  the  mode  of 
appointment  of  members  of  the  Lesson  Committee.  An  un- 
written law  or  custom  of  the  National  Sunday-School  Conven- 
tion was  that  the  American  section  of  the  International  Lesson 
Committee  should  be  appointed  by  the  delegates  openly  in 
convention;  that  no  Sunday-school  publishing  society  or  house 
in  America  should  appoint  a  delegate  to  that  convention,  nor 
elect  a  member  on  the  Lesson  Committee.  The  denomina- 
tional houses  were  permitted,  however,  to  suggest  members, 
though  they  did  not  elect  them.  Previous  to  this,  the  conven- 
tion or  Association  had  become  an  incorporated  body  and 
under  the  charter  the  management  of  its  business  affairs  was 
placed  in  the  hands  of  a  certain  number  of  persons,  who  could 
legally  appoint  the  Lesson  Committee,  as  well  as  transact 
other  business.  None  of  these  acts  required  the  approval  of 
the  Convention  to  confer  validity.  At  the  convention  in  San 
Francisco,  1911,  the  Lesson  Committee  changes  were  made 
not  by  the  delegates  to  the  convention,  but  by  the  trustees  of 
the  convention  (now  incorporated  as  an  ''association")  and 

1  See  Graded  Lessons,  p.  294. 


308  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

simply  reported  to  the  convention.  This  radical  change  was 
at  variance  with  the  original  custom  of  appointing  the  lesson 
committee  by  representatives  in  open  convention.  Meanwhile 
the  Editorial  Sunday-School  Association,  composed  of  mem- 
bers of  denominational  and  undenominational  Sunday-school 
societies  and  publishing  houses  combined,  which  had  pros- 
pered for  several  years,  had  been  superseded  by  a  "Sunday- 
School  Council"  exclusively  denominational  in  membership. 

This  Council  was  composed  of  representatives  of  denomina- 
tional Sunday-school  publishing  societies  who  voluntarily 
associated  themselves  together — from  twenty  to  thirty  differ- 
ent denominations  in  America — to  form  this  new  organiza- 
tion. This  denominational  council  claimed  the  right  to  con- 
trol the  selection  of  all  lessons  to  be  issued  by  the  Lesson 
Committee.  This  gave  rise  to  a  serious  conflict  of  authority. 
After  a  number  of  conferences,  a  compromise  was  finally 
reached  on  the  appointment  and  structure  of  the  Committee. 
It  was  agreed  that  thereafter  eight  members  of  the  future 
Lesson  Committee  only  be  elected  by  the  International 
Sunday-School  Association  in  convention;  eight  others  by  the 
Sunday-School  Council  of  Evangelical  Denominations,  and 
that  each  denomination  now  having,  or  that  may  have,  a 
special  committee  on  lessons  may  appoint  at  least  one  added 
representative  on  the  general  Lesson  Committee.  As  there 
were  upward  of  twenty  denominations  having  a  special  lesson 
committee,  this  action  increased  the  number  on  the  Inter- 
national Lesson  Committee  to  nearly  forty,  of  which  all  but 
eight  would  be  exclusively  representatives  of  denominational 
organizations.  Thus  the  denominations,  as  ecclesiastical 
bodies,  secured  a  preponderating  influence  in  all  the  acts  of 
the  International  Lesson  Committee.  Moreover,  it  excluded 
any  direct  representation  from  organizations  like  the  American 
Sunday-School  Union,  and  the  independent  Sunday-school 
publishing  houses.  Even  the  International  Sunday-School 
Association  did  not  recognize  any  delegates  to  their  conven- 
tion from  the  American  Sunday-School  Union  or  from  inde- 
pendent publishing  houses. 

Lesson  Committee,  British  and  American  Sections. — The 
British  section  of  the  Lesson  Committee  was  likewise  changed 
in  its  structure,  part  of  its  members  being  appointed  by  the 


INTERNATIONAL  LESSONS— 1872-1925         309 

London  Sunday-School  Union,  and  all  the  officers  of  that 
Union  also  became  ex-officio  members  of  the  British  section  of 
the  Lesson  Committee.  Besides  these,  there  were,  on  the 
British  section,  other  members  chosen  by  eight  or  more  de- 
nominational bodies,  all  of  them  Nonconformists.  Three 
corresponding  members  represented  Ireland  and  India — in  all, 
thirty-two  members  of  the  British  section.  There  was  no 
representation  from  the  Church  of  England,  the  Established 
Church  of  Scotland,  nor  did  there  appear  any  direct  repre- 
sentation from  the  churches  of  Australia.  The  Church  of 
England,  comprising  one-half  of  the  Sunday-school  member- 
ship of  England,  did  not  adopt  the  International  Lessons  in 
any  form,  nor  did  the  Established  Church  of  Scotland.  In 
Great  Britain  there  were  two  or  three  sets  or  courses  of 
lessons  even  among  some  Nonconformists. 

Thus  the  American  and  the  British  sections  were  practi- 
cally free  to  solve  their  own  problems  in  their  own  way; 
neither  was  bound  to  adopt  the  selection  of  the  other  for  their 
schools.  The  new  American  Lesson  Committee  continued 
the  Uniform  Lessons,  with  some  improvements  and  changes, 
in  cycles  of  eight  years,  beginning  with  1918;  the  lessons  for 
each  year  being  on  historical  or  biographical  lines  for  nine 
months  and  three  months  of  each  year  to  consist  of  topical 
lessons. 

Estimates  of  Lesson  Systems. — The  "International  Uniform 
Lesson  System,"  since  1872,  notwithstanding  its  wide-spread 
popularity,  has  called  forth  sharp  criticism.  It  has  obvious 
demerits,  as  well  as  merits.  Among  the  objections  made  to  it 
were:  (1)  That  it  was  not  in  accord  with  the  best  theories  of 
education ;  (2)  that  it  did  not  give  satisfactory  opportunity  for 
denominational  instruction;  (3)  that  it  was  too  fragment- 
ary. It  was  dubbed  a  "Kangaroo,  hop,  skip  and  jump 
method";  "An  erratic  work  of  careless  shears  and  paste-pot"; 
"A  mere  skimming  of  the  Bible." 

To  this  last  criticism,  its  advocates  wittily  answered  that 
"the  users  had  great  thanksgivings  over  the  remarkably  rich 
cream  that  they  had  skimmed  from  it!"  Further  they 
asserted  that  educators  in  the  classics  in  universities  did  not 
read  everything  in  the  classics,  even  of  works  such  as  Homer, 
Virgil,  Horace  and  Juvenal.     And  finally,  that  the  advantages 


310  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

far  outweighed  the  defects  of  the  system,  for  it  was  claimed 
that  those  who  adopted  the  Uniform  Lessons  gained  a  more 
comprehensive  knowledge  of  the  Bible;  that  instruction  was 
made  vastly  easier;  teachers'  meetings  were  possible;  unity 
of  instruction  was  promoted;  a  mass  of  fresh  biblical  literature 
of  great  value  was  developed  by  it;  and,  best  of  all,  that  the 
wide  use  of  Uniform  Lessons  was  a  great  object  lesson  and 
argument  for  the  unity  of  Christianity,  besides  widening  and 
deepening  its  spirituality  and  power. 

Graded  Lesson  Systems. — But  a  large  school  of  modern 
educators  continued  to  attack  Uniform  Lessons  as  violating 
sound  principles  of  education.  It  is,  however,  a  misconcep- 
tion that  Graded  Lessons  are  something  new.  The  principle 
has  been  recognized  in  Sunday-schools  for  more  than  a  century. 
There  are  two  kinds  of  grading :  one  is  grading  in  the  teaching 
and  in  the  themes;  the  other,  grading  in  the  statement  of  the 
themes  and  the  texts  upon  which  the  lessons  are  based.  Where 
Scripture  texts  are  not  used  as  a  basis,  the  grading  is  of  the 
olden  type  and  relates  chiefly  to  the  subjects  of  the  lessons. 
Thus  at  the  Convention  in  1914  a  prominent  speaker,  Dr. 
Benjamin  S.  Winchester,1  advocating  that  a  new  emphasis  be 
placed  upon  the  educational  aspects  of  the  Sunday-school, 
presented  a  list  of  ten  different  courses  of  lessons  which  were 
considered  by  the  Sunday-School  Council  of  Evangelical 
Denominations.  None  of  these  courses  was  stated  to  be  based 
upon  the  Bible,  although  some  of  them  might  include  Scrip- 
ture texts.  Each  of  these  courses  was  to  be  adapted  to  the 
successive  stages  of  development  of  the  pupils  and  was  sup- 
posed to  be  denominated  Graded  Lessons  par  excellence. 

Grading  of  the  lessons  prevailed  early  in  the  history  of  the 
modern  Sunday-school  movement,  especially  in  schools  exist- 
ing in  communities  where  some  adults  had  not  yet  learned  to 
read.  These  graded  lessons  were  vigorously  attacked  in  those 
days  because  they  were  not  exclusively  upon  the  Scriptures  and 
were  frequently  forced  out  of  the  schools  for  this  reason. 
Even  the  Uniform  Lesson  material  is  always  graded  in  teach- 
ing and  often  graded  also  in  themes.  This  was  the  case  in  the 
early  Uniform  Lessons  of  1826,  as  also  to  some  extent  in  the 
cycles  of  the  Uniform  Lessons  of  1872  and  on.     The  editors 

1  Organized  Sunday- School  Work  in  America,  p.  401. 


INTERNATIONAL  LESSONS— 1872-1925         311 

and  writers  on  those  lessons  further  graded  themes  growing 
out  of  the  Bible  texts  and  adapted  them  to  several  grades  and 
departments  in  the  Sunday-school.  Thus  the  germ  of  recent 
departmental  grades  was  in  the  thought  of  the  workers  and  of 
those  who  prepared  the  lessons  for  Sunday-schools  for  more 
than  a  generation. 

The  Uniform  Lesson  idea  therefore  embraces  both  graded 
teaching  and  graded  lessons.  The  new  graded  lessons,  how- 
ever, are  practically  opposed  to  uniformity  or  unity  of  instruc- 
tion in  different  grades.  Carried  out  logically,  the  new  graded 
lessons  have  a  theme  adapted  to  each  grade  and  each  theme 
must  be  based  upon  a  different  text  also  adapted  or  graded. 
Some  educators  declared  that  the  proposed  new  graded  lessons 
were  unsound  on  the  question  of  the  new  birth;  that  the 
Scriptures  were  wrested  from  their  natural  meaning  to  pro- 
vide a  basis  for  some  of  the  lessons;  and  that  the  Lesson  Com- 
mittee are,  through  the  structure  of  the  graded  lessons,  inter- 
preting the  Scriptures  for  Sunday-schools — a  work  contrary 
to  the  spirit  of  their  appointment.  Moreover,  it  was  further 
charged  that  the  new  graded  lessons  did  not  provide  for,  nor 
meet,  all  the  elements  in  the  problem  of  religious  education 
and,  therefore,  must  be  upon  unsound  principles  of  pedagogy 
or  they  would  provide  for  all  the  fundamental  elements  of  the 
problem.1 

Agitation  for  new  graded  lessons  reached  a  crisis  when  a 
tentative  course  of  lessons  for  primary  scholars  was  proposed 
in  connection  with  the  Uniform  Lessons.  Similar  courses  for 
Beginners  were  issued  in  1901  and  1902.  In  1903  an  optional 
advanced  course  of  lessons  was  proposed.  In  1905  an  ad- 
vanced or  senior  course  of  lessons  was  also  recommended  in 
connection  with  the  Uniform  Lessons.  In  1908  there  was 
outlined  a  new  series  of  graded  lessons  which  extended  to  about 
seventeen  grades,  each  grade  having  a  different  lesson.  Some 
of  these  lessons  were  extra-biblical  and,  on  this  account,  were 
rejected  by  some  of  the  leading  Sunday-school  societies  of 
America.  In  place  of  these  rejected  lessons,  an  optional  list 
of  biblical  lessons  was  substituted  later.  These  courses  of 
lessons  were  denominated  the  Extra-biblical  Series,  and  The 

1  Discussions  at  Boston,  Philadelphia,  New  Orleans  and  Chicago  Conferences,  1908- 
1915.     _ 


312  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

Biblical  Series  of  lessons,  respectively.  It  is  proper  to  add  that 
these  new  series  of  graded  lessons  were  the  outcome  of  a  num- 
ber of  conferences  of  prominent  Sunday-school  workers  at 
London,  England,  and  at  Boston,  Massachusetts,  and  else- 
where in  America,  for  nearly  a  decade  previous  to  their  final 
adoption.  Moreover,  these  new  graded  lessons  are  subject 
to  constant  changes  and  are  not  fixed  or  permanent.  It  was 
at  first  supposed  that  the  course  of  lessons  for  the  same  grades 
could  be  used  over  and  over  again,  and  thus  the  expense  to  the 
schools  would  be  less  than  for  the  Uniform  Lessons.  This  did 
not  prove  to  be  the  fact,  as  the  lessons  were  constantly  being 
so  changed  that  new  editions  required  to  be  purchased.  Thus 
the  expense  was  far  greater  for  the  New  Graded  Lessons  than 
for  the  Graded  Uniform  Lessons.1 

Early  in  1915  the  American  section  of  the  International 
Lesson  Committee  proposed  to  improve  the  Uniform  Series 
of  Lessons  by  a  more  careful  observance  of  the  adaptation  of 
the  lesson  material  to  the  needs  of  the  pupil.  To  this  end  the 
Committee  selected  "a  given  portion  of  Scripture,  usually  in- 
cluding a  story  or  narrative,  which  shall  serve  as  a  common 
source  of  material  for  study  in  the  different  departments  of 
the  school."  It  designated  ''appropriate  portions  of  this 
common  Scripture  for  study  in  the  several  departments  of  the 
school,"  specifying  "a  suitable  sub-title  and  memory  verses, 
and  references  to  other  Scripture  material  specially  suited  to 
any  given  department,  in  addition  to  the  regular  assigned 
portions  for  the  day."  Furthermore,  the  Committee  aimed  to 
"keep  in  mind  the  devotional  needs  of  the  school,  and  when 
deemed  advisable,  to  suggest  an  additional  passage  to  meet 
these  needs." 

It  was  further  agreed  at  a  joint  meeting  of  these  Sunday- 
school  organizations  that  in  the  preparation  of  lesson  courses 
this  foremost  basal  principle  must  be  maintained,  "Unity  of 
lesson  courses  with  denominational  freedom  for  any  desired 
modifications."  Thus  the  door  was  open  for  each  denomina- 
tional Sunday-school  board  to  make  any  changes  in  the 
Uniform  Series  of  lessons,  or  any  other  series,  which  the 
special  lesson  committee  of  that  denomination  or  of  that 
organization  might  choose  to  make.     It  is  natural  that  any 

1  See  British  Graded  Lessons,  p.  314. 


INTERNATIONAL  LESSONS— 1872-1925         313 

denominational  committee  might  magnify  its  office  with  the 
result  that  uniformity  in  lessons  would  be  liable  to  be  reduced 
quite  to  the  vanishing  point.  The  chief  bar  to  this  practical 
destruction  of  Uniform  Lessons  would  be  the  wide-spread  senti- 
ment in  favor  of  Christian  unity  among  the  many  Protestant 
sects. 

Even  this  concession  to  denominational  pressure  did  not 
satisfy  the  ecclesiastics.  Later,  still  another  step  was  taken, 
in  which  it  was  demanded  that  the  Lesson  Committee  submit 
its  lesson  courses  "to  the  various  denominations,  subject  to 
such  revision  and  modification  as  each  denomination  may  de- 
sire to  make,  in  order  to  adapt  the  courses  to  its  denomina- 
tional needs."1  This  was  recognized  as  a  step  backward  to- 
ward the  old  "Babel  Series"  of  lessons,  in  which  every  de- 
nomination and  every  publishing  house  had  its  own.  It 
would  be  unfair  to  charge  that  the  denominational  leaders  who 
aimed  at  intensity  of  denominational  culture  deliberately  in- 
tended to  break  up  the  real  principle  of  Uniform  Lessons, 
but  the  whole  drift  of  these  successive  acts  lay  in  that 
direction. 

A  course  of  lesson  study  universally  satisfactory  is  yet  to 
be  developed.  It  appears  to  lie  in  the  direction  of  unity  of 
theme  of  study  with  diversity  of  adaptation.  Whether  real 
unity  can  thus  be  secured  depends  upon  the  amount  of  grace 
and  love  for  the  larger  things  and  the  fundamentals  of  Chris- 
tianity existing  in  Christ's  disciples. 

The  dream  of  a  world-wide  international  series  of  lessons 
has  been  realized  only  in  name — not  in  reality.  In  1915  even 
the  British  Nonconformists  found  they  had  reached  the 
"parting  of  the  ways."  The  British  and  the  American  sec- 
tions of  the  International  Lesson  Committee  abandoned  joint 
work.  The  term  "international"  at  first  meant  only  the 
United  States  and  Canada,  but  with  the  association  of  some 
British  workers  it  was  hoped  it  would  become  world-wide. 
The  British  section  was  only  in  advisory  relation  to  the 
American  Lesson  Committee  for  several  years.  The  cycles  of 
lessons  were  planned  and  worked  out  in  detail  in  America  and 
submitted  to  the  British  section  for  criticism  and  adaptation. 
Later  a  further  adjustment  or  co-operation  was  attained, 

1  Organized  Sunday-School  Work,  1914,  p.  62. 


314  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

which  gave  the  two  sections,  British  and  American,  equal 
status  in  the  selection  of  the  lesson  cycles. 

This  plan  speedily  aroused  discontent  in  America  and  it  was 
not  wholly  satisfactory  to  the  British  section.  The  differences 
in  Sunday-school  development  in  America  and  Britain,  it  was 
urged,  required  different  lesson  systems.  A  discussion  of 
these  principles  resulted  in  convincing  most  of  the  leaders  that 
independence  of  action  would  enable  each  to  render  better 
service  to  its  own  constituency.  Therefore  it  was  announced 
that  "The  British  Committee  has  been  reluctantly  compelled 
to  break  the  fellowship  of  past  years  and  to  face  the  necessity 
of  independent  action/'  This  was  done  in  the  best  spirit  and 
good  feeling.  The  secretary  of  the  British  Committee  wrote 
to  the  American  section : 

It  is  with  genuine  regret  that  we  .  .  .  sever  for  the  time 
being  our  present  co-operation.  .  .  .  We  hope  and  pray  that 
the  independent  action  on  both  sides  may  work  for  the  ultimate 
good  of  Sunday-schools  the  world  over.  Whatever  severance 
there  may  be  in  action,  there  is  none  in  our  regard  for  you,  nor  in 
the  sympathy  and  friendship  which  time  has  enriched  with  many 
gracious  memories.  .  .  .  Our  growth  is  not  one  into  any 
fancied  superiority,  but  only  one,  like  that  of  our  American 
kinsmen,  into  a  desire  for  the  freedom  which  will  enable  us  to 
serve  best  the  Sunday-schools  we  represent.  We  cannot  fetter 
them.  They  do  not  wish  to  fetter  us.  The  break  is  but  on  the 
surface  and  for  the  purpose  of  better  serving  the  Kingdom  of  God. 
At  heart  we  are  one.1 

Behind  these  general  decisions  expressed  by  prominent 
editors  and  leaders  were  many  earnest  and  progressive  work- 
ers, some  advanced  and  some  conservative  in  their  attitude. 
What  were  the  wishes  and  views  of  the  majority  of  the  more 
quiet  but  equally  faithful  friends  of  the  cause?  The  great 
body  of  the  Sunday-school  forces  in  Christendom  will  event- 
ually make  themselves  felt,  and  will,  by  their  acts,  give  the 
supreme  decision  respecting  the  character  and  general  form 
of  the  lessons  for  Bible  study  in  Sunday-schools.  What  will  it 
be?  History  indicates  that  experience  and  time  are  required 
for  the  final  answer  to  this  question. 

British  Graded  Lessons. — The  courses  of  Sunday-school 
Lessons  current  in  Great  Britain,  both  Graded  and  Uniform, 
are  quite  as  many  and  as  diverse  as  in  America.     The  two  sec- 

»  Sunday-School  Chronicle  and  Christian  Outlook,  May  13,  1915,  pp.  313,  314. 


INTERNATIONAL  LESSONS— 1 872-1925         315 

tions,  American  and  British,  of  the  International  Lesson  Com- 
mittee each  sought  to  have  "harmonious  co-operation  with 
their  colleagues,"  and  at  the  same  time  provide  courses  of 
lessons  suited  to  the  needs  of  their  respective  constituencies, 
in  America  and  Great  Britain. 

Experience  of  a  few  years  proved  the  conditions  of  the  two 
countries  were  too  widely  different  to  make  this  plan  satis- 
factory or  even  practicable. 

The  cleavage  began  to  appear  early  in  the  International 
Uniform  Lessons,  where  the  American  section  conceded  to  a 
pressure  for  four  temperance  lessons  in  each  annual  series. 
The  British  section  considered  "such  provision  unnecessarily 
frequent  and  ethically  out  of  proportion."1 

Many  other  differences  arose  that  could  not  be  satisfac- 
torily adjusted  because  of  diverse  conditions  that  could  not 
be  changed.  Similar  difficulties  arose  in  respect  to  graded 
lessons.  The  "elaborate  system"  issued  in  America  was  re- 
jected in  favor  of  a  "simpler  one"  in  Great  Britain,  extending 
to  five  departmental  grades  as  against  seventeen  and  upward 
in  the  American  system.  Both  systems  are,  however,  in  a 
formative  stage,  the  British  tending  toward  closer  grading, 
the  American  calling  a  halt,  if  not  inclined  to  a  less  number 
of  grades.  British  and  American  graded  lessons  agree  in 
starting  with  "nature  talks,"  or  "lessons,"  though  the  British 
regard  their  "nature  talks"  for  the  wee  ones  as  supplement- 
ary and  really  not  a  part  of  their  plan  of  graded  lessons. 
The  two  also  agree  that  all  or  a  large  majority  of  lesson  sub- 
jects "shall  be  taken  from  the  Holy  Scriptures."  Hence  a 
prominent  British  writer  (W.  H.  Groser)  declares  that  "com- 
plexity and  competition  must  give  way  to  simplicity  and 
unity."  Whether  that  would  satisfactorily  open  the  way  for 
one  system  or  world-course  of  lessons  for  America  or  Europe 
remains  to  be  proved.  The  conditions  remaining  diverse, 
surely  many  very  serious  obstacles  would  also  remain  to  be 
overcome. 

The  British  Graded  Courses  are  prepared  "by  interde- 
nominational counsel  and  co-operation,"  which  includes  most 
of  the  Nonconformists.  The  Church  of  England,  the  Friends, 
the   Calvanistic    Methodists   of   Wales,    and   the   Episcopal 

1  W.  H.  Groser  in  The  Encyclopedia  of  Sunday-Schools,  p.  614. 


316  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

Church  of  Scotland,  however,  each  maintain  a  system  of 
graded  lessons  of  their  own. 

The  Standard  Graded  Courses  outlined  by  the  British  sec- 
tion of  the  International  Lesson  Committee  covered  nine 
years  (for  pupils  from  the  age  of  nine  to  eighteen)  in  three  or 
more  grades. 

Graded  Courses  for  those  below  nine  years  of  age  were 
arranged  for  Beginners  and  for  Primaries.  The  Junior  (nine 
to  eleven),  Intermediate  (twelve  to  fourteen),  and  the  Senior 
(sixteen  to  eighteen)  followed  the  lower  grades.  Each  grade 
of  a  school  was  assigned,  so  far  as  possible,  the  same  great  di- 
vision of  Scriptures  for  study.  But  this  principle  could  not 
be  consistently  applied  in  all  grades. 

The  American  Graded  Series  called  for  seventeen  or  more 
grades,  viz.:  Beginners  (four  to  five  years  of  age),  two  grades; 
Primary  (six  to  eight),  three  grades;  Junior  (nine  to  twelve), 
four;  Intermediate  (thirteen  to  sixteen),  four;  Senior  (seventeen 
to  twenty),  four;  also  Bible  classes  of  mature  and  older  persons, 
for  which  further  provision  is  required  according  to>the  condi- 
tions and  character  of  the  communities  and  classes. 

In  Great  Britain  a  strong  minority  of  workers  is  in  favor  of 
Graded  Lessons,  "though  fine  grading  is  distrusted,"  for  the 
majority  of  Nonconformists  still  hold  to  the  Uniform  Lessons, 
believing  that  the  system  can  be  constructed  from  the  stand- 
point of  child  development  "in  a  way  that  would  meet  all  the 
evangelical  needs  of  the  average  school." 

Among  British  graded  courses  are  those  by  the  British  Inter- 
national Lesson  Committee,  the  Friends' First  Day  Association, 
and  the  Church  of  England.  Each  course  or  system  agrees  on 
the  general  principles  of  grading,  but  differs  in  the  point  of 
view  and  in  the  details  of  the  system.  Thus  the  so-called  inter- 
national scheme  begins  in  "nature  talks"  for  those  four  years 
old;  stories  of  Jesus  and  creation  stories  for  those  five  years  old; 
two  years  with  Jesus  for  Primaries  (six  to  eight);  biography 
and  teachings  of  Jesus  for  Juniors  (eight  to  twelve);  ministry 
of  Jesus  and  early  Old  Testament  history  for  Intermediates 
(twelve  to  fourteen) ;  Synoptic  Gospels  and  Genesis  to  Judges 
for  Seniors  (sixteen  to  eighteen). 

The  Friends'  Course  of  Graded  Lessons  is  less  minute,  with 
apparently  closer  study  of  Scripture  history  and  themes. 


INTERNATIONAL  LESSONS— 1872-1925         317 

The  Church  of  England's  graded  courses  adhere  closely  to  the 
church  year,  and  have  three  departmental  divisions — Kinder- 
garten, Middle  and  Upper  School — with  five  main  grades,  viz., 
for  those  four  to  five  years  of  age;  six  to  eight  years;  eight  to 
ten  years;  ten  to  thirteen  years;  and  for  those  thirteen  years 
and  upward. 

Thus  it  is  evident  that  both  British  and  American  graded 
leaders  feel  that  they  have  not  yet  attained  or  laid  hold  of  the 
ideal  system.  Apparently  they  are  "forgetting  the  things 
that  are  behind"  and  are  "stretching  forward  to  the  things 
that  are  before."  Graded  systems  of  lessons  are,  therefore, 
predestined  to  undergo  many  and  frequent  changes  for  a  long 
time  to  come. 


SECTION  X 


FINANCES 


The  support  of  Sunday-schools  has  been  as  phenomenal 
as  their  growth.  The  world  was  amazed  to  see  millions  of 
persons — many  educated  and  cultured — giving  their  time  and 
talents  to  the  instruction  not  merely  of  neighbors  and  friends, 
but  of  strangers,  of  outcasts,  and  of  the  neglected — and  doing 
it  without  hope  or  expectation  of  pay.  This  fact  is  an  evi- 
dence of  divine  approval.  The  various  ways  of  supporting 
and  financing  local  schools  are  indicated  in  the  history  of  the 
movement. 

Working  by  Faith. — The  financial  experience  of  the  Amer- 
ican Sunday-School  Union  is  a  story  of  successive  plunges  into 
borrowing,  into  debts,  and  of  unexpected  and  surprising  deliv- 
erances from  financial  perils,  and  it  illustrates  the  financial 
history  of  many  Sunday-school  societies.  It  began  in  1817, 
with  neither  gold  nor  silver.  Its  chief  capital  was  a  cry — the 
cry  of  the  children.  The  first  money  in  its  treasury  was  bor- 
rowed from  friends.  With  this  borrowed  money  it  bought  a 
little  stock  of  publications,  poorly  adapted  to  its  purpose,  and 
promptly  began  the  preparation  and  issue  of  works  better 
suited  to  its  service. 

Missionaries  were  not  then  employed.  Sunday-schools 
were  organized  and  promoted  by  voluntary  workers,  by  cir- 
culation of  literature,  and  by  auxiliary  societies.  The  latter 
sought  to  create  enthusiasm  for  mission  work  through  local 
conventions.  In  similar  meetings  appeals  were  made  to  a 
generous  public  for  voluntary  contributions  from  friends  of  the 
cause.  Funds  were  received  from  the  sale  of  publications,  but 
scarcely  enough  to  pay  for  the  cost  of  production.  The  object 
was  not  commercial  profit,  but  promotion  of  the  cause.  It 
was  a  gigantic  work  then  to  unite  Christians  of  different  de- 
nominations, to  convince  them  of  the  importance  of  founding 
Sunday-schools,  and  to  provide  them  with  suitable  literature. 
318 


FINANCES  319 

This  the  friends  of  the  movement  aimed  to  do  in  America,  and 
to  some  extent  throughout  the  world. 

The  Union  did  a  large  work  with  limited  means  in  those 
formative  years  before  its  name  was  changed  to  the  American 
Sunday-School  Union  in  1824.  Then  its  funds  amounted  to 
$590.52  cash,  and  its  publications  and  material  were  reckoned 
at  a  nominal  value  of  about  $5,000,  against  which  there  were 
debts  and  loans  of  upward  of  $1,300.  It  enrolled  about  321 
auxiliaries,  with  1,150  schools  and  a  membership  of  93,992, 
and  with  its  small  capital  proposed  to  furnish  all  the  Sunday- 
schools  in  the  United  States  with  literature  at  the  lowest  prices, 
and  also  "to  place  the  means  of  learning  to  read  and  under- 
stand the  sacred  Scriptures  within  the  reach  of  every  individual 
in  our  country."  1 

General  Fund  and  Mission  Fund. — The  Missionary  Fund 
in  1824  amounted  to  $330,  including  $245  in  a  savings  bank 
from  previous  years.  The  General  Fund  was  the  largest  fund 
in  the  early  years  of  the  Union's  work.  Six  missionaries  were 
employed  for  a  short  period  that  year  and  sustained  by  borrow- 
ing $1,400.  About  a  million  copies  of  publications,  besides 
periodicals,  were  issued  within  the  year,  yet  these  were  found 
too  limited  in  range  and  quantity  to  supply  the  demand  from 
schools.  The  Union  made  forceful  appeals  concerning  the 
need  of  cheap  Bibles,  Testaments,  and  other  publications  for 
the  promotion  of  the  Sunday-school  cause  in  the  country,  and 
received  quite  generous  responses.  Although  its  receipts  from 
this  small  beginning  soon  increased  by  leaps  and  bounds,  year 
by  year,  there  seemed  to  be  no  end  to  the  large  demands  from 
communities  wide-spread  over  the  land.  It  expended  about 
$5,000  in  1823  and  in  1824,  but  in  1829  its  expenditures  leaped 
to  $75,000.  About  one-third  of  its  receipts  consisted  in  bor- 
rowed money.  The  managers  had  faith  that  friends  would 
approve  of  these  large  outlays,  in  view  of  the  crying  demand 
for  schools,  and  would  sustain  them  in  so  new  and  noble  a 
work.  So  urgent  and  multiplied  were  the  calls  upon  the 
Union  for  literature  and  for  help  in  sustaining  Sunday-schools, 
that  the  managers  found  it  impossible  to  keep  their  expendi- 
tures within  their  receipts.  (Appendix,  p.  467,  for  Henry  Ward 
Beecher's  Appeal  and  Apology  for  the  West  in  1848.)     This 

1  Report,  1825;]  Appendix,  p.  31. 


320  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

effort  grew  hopeless  in  1830,  during  the  period  when  the  un- 
precedented wave  of  enthusiasm  swept  over  the  country  for 
establishing  Sunday-schools  in  the  Mississippi  Valley.  Though 
the  contributions  to  the  Union's  mission  fund  made  the  amaz- 
ing leap  in  one  year  from  $1,000  to  $25,000,  the  calls  upon  that 
fund  soon  exceeded  this  unprecedented  increase.  At  the  end 
of  two  years,  notwithstanding  this  hitherto  unknown  liberality, 
the  receipts  fell  short  of  expenditures  by  $5,000,  and  the  money 
borrowed  by  the  Union  was  increased  to  $74,000. 

Increased  Overdrafts. — A  like  wave  of  enthusiasm  for  Sun- 
day-school extension  in  the  South  sprang  up  spontaneously  in 
1832-33.  The  opposition  of  a  few  to  the  Sunday-school  move- 
ment served  rather  to  swell  than  to  lessen  this  enthusiasm. 
Thousands  of  dollars  were  pledged  for  this  new  southern 
movement.  The  pressure  upon  the  Union  for  enlarged  work 
was  too  strong  to  resist.  The  Valley  Fund  was  largely  over- 
drawn, the  Southern  Fund  was  also  speedily  exhausted,  leav- 
ing the  Union  to  carry  the  burden  of  increased  debt  as  best  it 
might.  Further  to  embarrass  the  Society,  appeals  poured  in 
upon  it  from  foreign  mission  workers  for  gratuitous  supplies  of 
Union  publications,  and  for  money  to  translate  them;  to  aid 
mission  fields  in  distant  parts  of  the  world  where  American 
missionaries  were  carrying  the  gospel.  Under  this  added 
pressure  the  Union  proposed  to  appropriate  special  gifts  up  to 
$12,000  for  this  object  in  foreign  fields.  It  is  little  wonder  that 
these  enterprises,  magnanimous  and  noble  as  they  were,  not 
only  exhausted  the  Union's  resources  but  well-nigh  exhausted 
its  credit  also.  To  save  the  latter,  its  stock  of  publications 
was  reduced  thousands  of  dollars  and  sold  at  large  loss.  The 
Rev.  Robert  Baird  and  the  Rev.  Howard  Malcolm  and  others 
were  engaged  to  solicit  funds,  and  friends  were  urged  to  make 
loans  to  tide  the  Society  over  the  crisis.  These  strenuous 
efforts  and  drastic  measures  brought  temporary  relief,  ena- 
bling the  Union  to  continue  its  missionary  work,  though  the 
publications  suffered  by  the  serious  retrenchment. 

The  financial  crisis  of  1837  came,  embarrassing  creditors, 
debtors  and  contributors  alike,  and  seriously  diminishing  the 
contributions  to  its  work,  so  that  the  debt  again  increased  to 
$82,000,  including  a  mortgage  on  its  building.  In  this  emerg- 
ency the  Union  further  curtailed  one  branch  of  its  extension 


FINANCES  321 

work — that  of  furnishing  stocks  of  publications  on  credit  to 
auxiliaries.  This  liberal  advance  of  publications  to  auxiliaries 
had  been  made  in  order  to  aid  them  in  founding  and  fostering 
Sunday-schools  in  their  respective  districts.  As  there  were 
from  350  to  400  auxiliaries,  the  capital  required  was  large, 
making  the  plan  too  expensive  for  securing  the  comparatively 
small  amount  of  mission  work  reported  by  the  auxiliaries.  A 
limited  number  of  supply  depots  was  substituted  as  a  tempo- 
rary measure,  to  prevent  any  serious  discouragement  to  mis- 
sion work.  Owing  to  the  financial  stringency  in  the  country, 
these  changes  gave  but  partial  relief. 

The  embarrassment  returned  in  1841  and  was  so  serious 
that  the  Society  decided  to  discontinue  most  of  its  supply 
depots  and  declined  longer  to  sell  on  credit  or  commission,  pro- 
posing to  sell  for  cash  only.  But  as  the  publications  were  sold 
so  near  to,  and  sometimes  below,  the  actual  cost  of  production, 
this  measure  did  not  give  relief.  Then  too  the  pressure  for 
increasing  its  work  in  the  Mississippi  Valley  and  the  West  was 
renewed,  due  to  a  fresh,  inrolling  tide  of  immigration,  and  an 
alarming  increase  of  religious  destitution.  Large  outlays  were 
demanded  in  response  to  this  irresistible  call.  By  1849  the 
advances  made  in  this  extension  work  were  so  great  as  again  to 
cripple  the  issue  of  publications,  periodicals,  books,  and  lesson 
material,  but  that  was  deemed  necessary  "to  save  the  mis- 
sionary service  from  disaster."  * 

Working  under  the  heavy  debt  and  with  borrowed  capital, 
somehow  the  "commission"  and  "credit"  system  again  crept 
in;  the  borrowing  went  on  and  held  sway  for  several  years. 
In  consequence  of  these  conditions  the  financial  panic  of  1857 
found  the  Union  already  staggering  under  a  crushing  debt. 
This  debt  included  $76,677.21,  resulting  from  excess  of  ex- 
penditures in  missionary  work,  and  required  the  Society  to 
issue  obligations  for  an  equal  amount  for  paper,  printing,  and 
binding.  Besides  this,  loans  had  been  made  to  the  Society 
by  different  parties  amounting  to  $20,750.29,  and  open  ac- 
counts of  $16,745.36,  making  the  liabilities  $114,172.86  (ex- 
clusive of  mortgages  and  temporary  loans  amounting  to 
$44,000  more). 

Debt  and  Porter  Loss. — This  indebtedness,  which  appalled 

«  Report,  1849,  p.  54. 


322  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

the  managers  in  the  financial  crisis  of  1857,  was  as  nothing 
compared  with  the  amazement  which  confronted  them  in  the 
same  year,  owing  to  spurious  obligations  issued  by  Corres- 
sponding  Secretary  Porter  in  whom  the  greatest  confidence 
had  been  placed  for  over  thirty  years.  The  character  of  these 
spurious  obligations  was  fully  reported.  The  amount  of  the 
obligations  issued  by  Mr.  Porter  without  the  knowledge  of  the 
Society  was  $88,042.27.  Measures  were  immediately  taken 
to  secure  the  Society  from  loss.  Mr.  Porter  handed  over  to  the 
Society  all  his  personal  property,  and  other  parties  indirectly 
involved  gave  notes  and  mortgages  toward  making  up  the 
loss,  so  that  it  was  supposed  that  the  net  loss  to  the  Society 
would  be  only  about  $35,000,  and  this  amount  was  promptly 
subscribed  by  managers  and  friends. 

The  financial  depression,  however,  was  changing  values 
rapidly;  $37,351.13  of  these  spurious  obligations,  which  were 
issued  for  the  benefit  of  other  parties,  were  replaced  by  notes 
secured  by  a  mortgage  on  real  estate  as  collateral.  Owing  to 
the  failure  of  Joseph  McDowell,  the  Society  later  was  compelled 
to  sell  the  collateral  securities,  realizing  only  about  50  per  cent, 
of  the  amount  due. 

All  the  creditors  of  the  Society  were  anxious  for  payment 
and  held  a  meeting  at  which  they  appointed  a  committee  to 
inquire  into  the  Union's  financial  condition.  The  Society  ap- 
pointed Lewis  R.  Ashhurst,  H.  J.  Williams,  and  the  assistant 
treasurer,  W.  J.  Cheney,  as  a  committee  "with  full  and  final 
powers  to  arrange  with  the  creditors  of  the  Society." 

The  liabilities  of  the  Union  were  reported  to  be  $246,275.59, 
$198,892.62  of  this  bearing  interest.  The  available  assets 
were  stated  at  $168,000.  The  Society's  committee  proposed 
payment  of  the  liabilities  by  instalments,  to  be  completed  in 
ten  years.  This  proposition  did  not  satisfy  the  creditors,  and 
it  was  finally  agreed  that  the  Society  should  issue  bonds  to 
an  amount  not  to  exceed  $200,000,  and  make  payments  of  the 
same  at  the  rate  of  10  per  cent,  of  the  principal  every  six 
months,  with  interest  on  amount  due,  so  that  the  indebtedness 
would  be  paid  in  five,  or  five  and  a  half  years.  This  propo- 
sition was  accepted  by  the  Society  as  the  best  that  could  be 
obtained  from  the  creditors,  but  with  a  distinct  understanding 
that  it  could  not  make  these  payments  unless  large  sums  were 


SOME  PROMINENT  SUPPORTERS  OF  THE  SOCIETY 


Francis  Scott  Key. 


Elliott  Cresson. 


Thomas  Murdoch. 


John  Crerar. 


S.  B.  Schieffelin. 


FINANCES  323 

contributed  by  its  friends,  and  that  the  success  of  the  whole 
plan  would  be  dependent  upon  such  outside  financial  aid. 
The  creditors  agreed  to  accept  the  bonds  of  the  Society  in  lieu 
of  the  notes,  acceptances,  and  obligations  which  they  held, 
surrendering  them  to  the  Society  and  taking  bonds  therefor.1 

It  is  not  surprising  that  these  financial  conditions  should 
lead  to  a  division  of  views  and  even  dissension  among  the  man- 
agers themselves.  Provision  must  be  made  for  the  payment 
of  the  bonds  to  the  creditors,  not  only  by  appeals  to  the 
friends  of  the  Society  for  funds,  but  also  by  such  an  efficient 
and  economic  management  of  its  operations  as  would  promise 
some  margin  toward  meeting  these  obligations. 

Expansion  or  Retrenchment. — Two  ways  were  proposed :  one 
of  decided  retrenchment  in  all  branches  of  its  operations;  the 
other  of  a  bold  and  unprecedented  advance,  the  Society  throw- 
ing itself  upon  the  generosity  of  the  Christian  public  for  relief . 
After  prolonged  discussion,  the  latter  course  was  adopted  by 
a  small  majority.  The  entire  operations  of  the  Society,  pub- 
lication and  missionary,  were  projected  upon  a  large  scale. 
A  weekly  Sunday-school  and  family  paper  of  large  size  (The 
Sunday-School  Times),  similar  to  The  Sunday-School  Journal  of 
1831,  conducted  in  the  spirit  and  taste  of  modern  journal- 
ism, was  projected  and  begun.  New  illustrated  papers — one 
weekly  and  the  other  monthly — displaced  the  Penny  Gazette, 
and  the  issue  of  a  Sunday-school  book  every  week  was  decided 
upon,  and  a  vastly  enlarged  policy  in  its  missionary  work. 
The  announcement  of  their  plans  arrested  public  attention  and 
created  some  zeal  in  many  quarters.  New  parties  were  found 
temporarily  to  grant  fresh  credit,  and  the  Cresson  bequest  of 
$50,000  (net  $47,500  which  was  finally  used  to  clear  the  Soci- 
ety's building)  aided  in  launching  the  new  plans  and  made 
them  appear  feasible. 

This  expansion  system  brought  a  large  increase  in  nominal 
sales  of  publications  computed  at  list  prices.  The  discounts 
granted  on  these  sales  and  the  cost  of  copyrights  and  plates 
were  such,  however,  that  the  profits  did  not  avail  to  reduce  the 
debt.  Legacies  given  for  the  general  purposes  were  either  un- 
available or  proved  insufficient  to  do  more  than  change  the 

1  Minutes  of  the  Board  for  October' and  November,' 1857;  Report  of  Lewis  R.  Ashhurst, 
February  19,  1861,  Minutes  of  the  Board,  1861. 


324  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

form  of  the  Society's  liabilities.  While  the  credit  of  the  Union 
was  temporarily  improved,  the  new  plan  produced  fresh  em- 
barrassment by  its  large  expenditures,  forcing  an  appeal  for 
more  funds. 

In  the  midst  of  these  perplexing  conditions  the  measures 
proposed  for  relief  gave  rise  to  further  dissension  among  the 
managers,  culminating  in  a  formal  protest  from  twelve  of  the 
older  members  against  the  course  of  policy  pursued  in  the 
management,  followed  by  a  decision  formally  to  resign — an 
action  which  they  were  urged  to  postpone,  in  the  hope  that 
differences  might  be  adjusted. 

These  managers  were  constrained  to  take  this  action  because 
the  Board  declined  to  make  each  department — missionary, 
periodical,  and  book — bear  its  own  charges  and  expenses,  and 
were  influenced  also  by  the  temporary  suspension  of  the  work 
of  the  Committee  on  Publication.  A  few  months  later  the 
work  of  the  Committee  on  Publication  was  resumed,  but  those 
members  of  the  Board  who  had  protested  against  the  course 
stood  aloof  the  greater  part  of  the  year  from  participation  in 
the  management  of  the  Society. 

In  December,  1860,  the  managers  were  informed  of  "another 
financial  crisis  in  the  affairs  of  the  Society,"  and  a  special 
meeting  was  convened  to  secure  a  new  loan  of  several  thousand 
dollars,  which  was  needed,  it  was  said,  to  save  the  Society 
from  bankruptcy.1    Later  this  was  approved. 

Financial  Perils. — The  expansion  plan  had  not  proved  suc- 
cessful. The  older  and  more  experienced  managers  who  had 
dissented  from  it  were  requested  to  return  and  save  the  Society 
from  disaster.  They  accepted  the  task  on  certain  conditions, 
and  provided  from  §60,000  to  $90,000  in  loans,  and  adjusted 
an  added  issue  of  bonds. 

As  in  former  crises,  the  burden  of  retrenchment  again  fell 
upon  the  publications.  The  Sunday-School  Times  which  had 
been  started  in  1858-59  was  transferred  to  private  parties,  the 
other  periodicals  were  consolidated,  fewer  new  books  were 
issued,  and  the  accumulated  stock  was  sacrificed  at  greatly 
reduced  prices  to  furnish  ready  money  to  pacify  the  creditors. 
Owing  to  the  depressed  financial  condition  in  the  whole  country 
it  was  impossible  to  realize  the  amounts  expected  upon  the 

1  Report  of  Lewis  R.  Ashhurst,  February,  1861. 


FINANCES  325 

property  and  assets  turned  over  to  secure  the  Society  against 
losses  by  Mr.  Porter.  Contributions  diminished,  and  were 
very  hard  to  secure.  A  new  issue  of  bonds  was  authorized 
late  in  1861,  partly  to  replace  the  old  ones  and  to  provide  for 
the  large  interest  ($12,000  a  year)  and  for  other  payments  on 
account  of  the  debt.  One  series  of  bonds  amounting  to  $50, 150 
was  issued  in  November,  1861,  and  another  series  of  eight  and 
twelve-year  bonds,  to  an  amount  not  exceeding  $140,000,  was 
authorized  early  in  1863. 

Moreover,  the  great  struggle  in  the  country — the  Civil  War — 
causing  the  suspension  of  specie  payments  and  the  breaking 
up  of  business  and  benevolent  operations  alike,  seems  to  have 
been  a  gracious  interposition  of  Providence  indirectly  favorable 
to  the  Society.  While  the  Civil  War  suspended  the  Union's 
missions  and  destroyed  its  business  in  the  entire  South  and 
seriously  crippled  its  resources  in  the  North,  yet  friends  again 
rallied  to  its  support  in  this  crisis  and  some  large  contributions 
were  made  for  its  relief.  A  large  demand  came  for  publica- 
tions of  the  Society  suited  for  distribution  in  the  camps  and 
hospitals  of  the  armies  in  the  Civil  War,  and  these  sales,  al- 
though almost  at  cost,  put  ready  cash  in  the  Union's  treasury. 
Moreover  "war  prices"  soon  prevailed,  greatly  inflating  the 
nominal  value  of  its  stock,  which  enabled  the  Society  to  show  a 
marked  increase  of  available  assets. 

The  Civil  War  of  1861-65,  which  forced  a  suspension  of 
specie  payments  as  stated,  produced  other  radical  changes  in 
the  country's  finances  and  business.  Drastic  measures  for 
the  collection  of  debts  and  obligations  were  impracticable. 
All  creditors,  including  those  of  the  Society,  became  more 
lenient  and  deemed  it  wise  to  be  generous  in  granting  exten- 
sion of  time  for  payment. 

Among  the  efforts  made  toward  reducing  the  liabilities  of 
the  Society  was  the  formation  of  a  "Book  Fund."  The  plan 
was  to  secure  a  fund  of  $100,000,  the  interest  of  which  was  to 
be  used  in  distributing  the  Society's  publications  to  needy  and 
struggling  schools  and  kindred  objects.  About  $40,100  were 
subscribed,  $8,400  only  in  cash  and  $31,700  in  the  Society's 
bonds,  which  were  surrendered  for  this  purpose.  But  as 
the  Society  had  already  expended  in  benevolent  work  the  full 
amount  of  the  principal  of  these  bonds,  besides  paying  interest 


326  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

thereon,  which  was  two-fold  more  than  the  $8,400  cash,  the 
gain  was  nominal  rather  than  real.  The  "Wurts  Fund"  of 
$10,000  was  likewise  created  by  giving  up  bonds  of  the  Society. 
The  interest  of  this  fund  (5  per  cent.)  was  used  in  mission  ser- 
vice. But  again  this  entire  sum  (in  the  Wurts  fund)  had  al- 
ready been  expended  by  the  society  in  benevolent  work,  so  it 
merely  changed  the  form  of  the  indebtedness. 

The  inflated  prices  of  its  publications  during  the  war  appar- 
ently increased  the  assets  and  induced  the  managers  to  ap- 
propriate $10,000  of  these  apparent  assets  toward  relief  of  the 
mission  work.  A  $10,000  bequest  by  John  A.  Brown  was 
also  applied  to  reducing  the  mission  debt.  A  reduction  of 
40  per  cent,  on  the  value  of  the  stock  in  the  hands  of  the 
missionaries  was  also  made,  in  anticipation  of  a  shrinkage  to 
the  normal  prices  which  prevailed  before  the  war.  All  these 
efforts  brought  no  reduction,  but  rather  an  increase  of  the 
financial  burdens  upon  the  Society. 

Near  the  close  of  the  war  another  effort  was  made  to  remove 
the  debt  and  provide  capital  for  the  Union,  but  this,  like  the 
previous  efforts  of  1830,  1846,  1854  and  1858,  was  only  par- 
tially successful.  In  1866  about  $30,000  were  contributed  by 
friends  in  Philadelphia,  specially  to  supply  ' 'depots"  of  the 
Society  with  its  publications  for  distribution  in  the  Middle 
West,  but  this  sum  too  was  absorbed  in  benevolent  distri- 
bution of  literature  in  mission  fields. 

New  Measures. — The  embarrassed  condition  of  the  country, 
coupled  with  the  vastly  increasing  demands  for  missionary 
work  at  the  close  of  the  war,  virtually  forced  the  Society  again 
to  increase  its  missions  beyond  the  amount  it  received  there- 
for, so  that  in  1873,  $35,000  more  were  added  to  the  Society's 
missionary  liabilities.  This  $35,000,  however  (except  the  in- 
terest), was  provided  for  later  out  of  the  discounts  allowed 
on  sales  of  the  Society's  publications  through  its  missionaries. 
Some  indirect  gain  also  came  from  the  previous  efforts  to  re- 
move the  debt;  for  the  assistant  secretary  of  missions  (Rev. 
E.  W.  Rice),  at  the  request  of  the  managers,  ascertained  that 
one  cause  of  the  excess  of  expenditures  in  missionary  work 
was  due  to  rating  mission  pledges  made  at  the  beginning  of  the 
year  at  their  face  value,  whereas  it  appeared  from  the  records 
of  the  Society  for  years  that  only  about  80  per  cent,  of  those 


FINANCES  327 

pledges  had  been  redeemed  in  cash.  If  allowance  had  been 
made  at  the  beginning  of  each  year  for  this  shrinkage,  the 
receipts  would  have  covered  the  expenditures  in  benevolent 
work.     This  plan  was  finally  adopted  and  proved  satisfactory. 

In  the  decade  1870  to  1880,  the  receipts  for  current  ex- 
penses gradually  increased.  The  John  C.  Green  Fund  of 
$100,000  was  created  by  the  legatees  of  that  estate  in  1877, 
the  income  to  be  used  for  two  specified  objects.  However,  the 
liabilities  steadily  increased  by  accruing  interest  and  still 
weighed  heavily  on  the  Society. 

New  Executive  Committee. — To  provide  for  the  bonds  be- 
coming due  and  for  this  interest,  a  new  issue  of  bonds  for 
$125,000  was  authorized  by  the  Union  early  in  1877.  Besides 
this  amount,  over  $100,000  had  been  borrowed  from  trust 
funds  to  provide  for  the  payment  of  excess  of  expenditures  in 
missionary  and  benevolent  work,  and  there  was  a  floating 
business  indebtedness  of  over  $20,000. 

After  careful  consideration  of  the  debt  and  measures  for 
relief,  in  1879  the  treasurer  and  chairman  of  the  Finance 
Committee  resigned,  as  unwilling  to  grapple  with  the  financial 
situation.  A  new  Executive  Committee  was  created  which, 
with  the  Committee  on  Finance,  as  reconstructed,  formed  a 
plan  for  paying  the  debt  and  for  providing  the  Society  with  an 
adequate  capital,  without  interfering  with  the  support  of  its 
mission  work.  This  Executive  Committee  comprised  the 
editor  (Rice),  treasurer  (Ashhurst),  and  secretary  of  missions 
(Wurts  and,  on  his  death,  Dr.  Crowell),  the  heads  of  the  three 
branches  of  the  Society's  activities  at  that  time.  The  Execu- 
tive Committee  (through  its  chairman)  presented  a  sketch  of 
the  growth  of  the  debt  and  of  the  efforts  which  had  been 
unsuccessfully  made  for  relief,  with  some  of  the  probable 
causes  of  the  failures. 

The  liabilities  of  the  Society  in  1880  amounted  to 
$266,978.78.  The  causes  of  the  debt  were  stated  to  be  chiefly 
two:  (1)  furnishing  the  publications  to  the  public  for  many 
years  at  less  than  the  cost  of  production;  (2)  expending  more  in 
benevolent  distribution  of  literature  and  in  missionary  work 
than  was  contributed  for  those  purposes.  To  insure  the  suc- 
cess of  the  plan,  an  inquiry  was  made  in  regard  to  the  neces- 
sity for  Union  schools  and  for  publications  issued  on  the 


328  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

Union  principle,  which  extended  to  every  state  in  the  nation. 
The  replies  were  reported  to  be  uniformly  emphatic  that  such 
schools  were  more  widely  needed  than  ever  and  that  such  re- 
ligious literature  was  an  absolute  necessity.  Further  to  insure 
the  success  of  the  plan,  without  diverting  contributions  from 
current  missionary  work,  it  was  decided  not  to  make  a  public 
appeal.  Moreover,  it  was  unanimously  agreed  that  the  "no 
debt"  policy,  which  had  been  repeatedly  approved  but  never 
enforced,  should  now  be  faithfully  carried  out.  As  a  condition 
upon  which  funds  were  to  be  solicited,  the  Society  placed  itself 
under  a  pledge  not  hereafter  to  incur  debt. 

The  Executive  Committee  further  adopted  measures  for 
eliminating  waste  in  labor,  time,  and  in  unproductive  details, 
putting  the  business  on  a  strictly  cash  basis,  buying  and  sell- 
ing for  cash  and  discounting  all  bills.  This  resulted  not  only 
in  bringing  the  business  expenditures  within  its  receipts,  but 
in  providing  means  for  paying  the  floating  indebtedness  which 
amounted  to  several  thousand  dollars. 

While  there  was  no  public  appeal,  as  already  stated,  the 
Society's  work  and  some  results  were  presented  privately, 
personally,  and  by  correspondence.  Besides  adhering  to  the 
"no  debt'7  policy,  it  was  agreed  that  hereafter  the  expendi- 
tures in  each  branch  of  the  Society's  operations  should  be  paid 
out  of  the  receipts  for  that  branch.1 

Funds  to  be  Increased. — After  many  months  of  careful 
study  of  the  Union's  history,  and  successive  seasons  of  prayer 
by  the  managers,  the  plan  was  matured  and  approved.  The 
first  contribution  of  $25,000  was  volunteered  by  Alexander 
Brown,  Chairman  of  the  Finance  Committee.  He  afterward 
added  $15,000  to  form  the  "Raikes'  Fund";  the  income  of  the 
latter  to  be  used  in  mission  work.  Meanwhile,  by  a  provision 
of  the  John  C.  Green  Income  Fund  of  $100,000,  $20,000  of  the 
Society's  bonds  in  that  fund  were  to  be  retired.  The  principal 
of  the  Green  Fund  was  to  be  kept  intact  by  gradually  re- 
placing this  amount  from  the  income.  J.  W.  C.  Leveridge,  the 
Society's  attorney  in  New  York,  at  Dr.  Rice's  suggestion,  in- 
fluenced a  special  bequest  of  $20,000  for  the  same  object,  so 
that  before  1900  the  indebtedness  of  over  $266,000,  with  the 
interest,  was  entirely  canceled. 

I  Reports,  1861,  p.  12;  1882,  pp.  10-12;  1900,  pp.  7-9;  1909,  pp,  7-9. 


FINANCES  329 

Moreover,  while  these  efforts  to  remove  the  debt  and  in- 
crease the  capital  were  being  made,  the  current  receipts  of  the 
Society  for  mission  work  were  more  than  doubled.  The 
Union  thus  had  its  building,  stock  of  publications,  and  plates 
free  from  incumbrance,  and  had  also  gained  over  half  a  million 
of  income-bearing  funds,  the  income  to  be  used  for  missionary 
and  other  forms  of  its  benevolent  work. 

The  benevolent  gifts  and  bequests  to  the  Society  for  the 
first  forty  or  more  years  came  from  many  individuals  and  or- 
ganizations widely  scattered  over  the  country.  Large  gifts 
from  one  party  were  rare,  and  large  gifts  from  one  place  were 
also  quite  infrequent.  Thus  among  the  first  large  gifts  to  the 
Society  were  $15,000  and  upward  contributed  in  1828  by  the 
citizens  of  Philadelphia  for  the  buildings  to  be  used  as  head- 
quarters of  the  Union. 

The  enthusiastic  appeals  for  planting  Sunday-schools  in 
the  Mississippi  Valley  brought  returns  in  seven  years  (1831  to 
1837)  of  $102,078.  The  contributions  to  the  general  work  or 
General  Fund  of  the  Society  (not  missionary),  for  which  there 
was  no  special  enthusiasm  during  the  same  seven  years, 
amounted  to  $74,540.  While  this  was  not  given  for  missionary 
purposes,  the  Society  was  compelled  to  appropriate  a  large 
proportion  of  these  gifts  to  meet  the  excess  in  mission  expenses 
incurred  in  planting  schools  in  the  Mississippi  Valley  and  in 
the  South,  expecting  that  these  sums  would  be  returned  to  the 
General  Fund  for  which  they  were  designed  by  the  donors. 

There  were  many  small  bequests  and  legacies  left  to  the 
Society  during  the  early  part  of  this  period,  but  the  first  one  on 
record  of  $5,000  or  over  came  from  Mary  Fassett  of  Philadel- 
phia in  1853-54.  The  next  year,  1855,  a  bequest  from  Jabez 
Godell  of  Buffalo,  New  York,  paid  in  instalments  during  five 
years  thereafter,  amounted  to  over  $25,000.  A  year  or  two 
later  came  the  $50,000  (less  inheritance  tax  of  $2,500)  from 
Elliot  Cresson  of  Philadelphia,  and  $10,000  from  Seth  Gros- 
venor  of  New  York. 

In  the  period  from  1857  to  1877  there  followed  numerous 
legacies  and  gifts  intended  or  used  for  meeting  the  special  de- 
mands upon  the  Society  during  the  Civil  War,  or  for  reducing 
the  heavy  debt  and  maintaining  the  credit  of  the  Society,  as 
heretofore  stated. 


330  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

Churches  Founded. — The  chief  support  of  the  Society's 
work  during  sixty  years  was  derived  from  a  wide  circle  of  living 
contributors.  A  large  proportion  of  schools  formed  by  the 
missionaries  of  the  American  Sunday-School  Union  on  the 
frontier  opened  the  way  for  founding  churches  of  various 
evangelical  denominations.  This  was  the  intention  and  ex- 
pectation of  the  Society  in  maintaining  its  pioneer  work.  In 
each  of  these  communities  the  Union  sowed  the  gospel  seed 
and  developed  a  few  Christian  disciples  who  could  be  used  as 
the  nucleus  of  a  church.  The  kind  and  character  of  the  church 
were  determined,  not  by  the  Union,  but  by  the  majority  of  the 
people  in  each  community.  Because  of  this  pioneer  work,  the 
stronger  Sunday-schools  and  churches  in  the  older  part  of  the 
country  cheerfully  aided  in  sustaining  the  Union's  operations, 
believing  it  an  effective  way  of  promoting  the  growth  of  their 
respective  denominations  in  the  newer  parts  of  the  country. 
It  was  not  uncommon  for  two  or  more  church  Sunday-schools 
in  that  period  to  unite  in  support  of  a  Union  missionary  on  the 
frontier. 

Later,  when  the  denominations,  through  their  ecclesiastical 
organizations,  began  Sunday-school  missionary  work,  the 
schools  aided  their  respective  denominations,  as  was  natural, 
and  their  contributions  to  Union  work  gradually  diminished. 
It  was  providential  that  the  success  of  the  plan  for  extinguish- 
ing the  debt  and  providing  an  adequate  capital  for  the  Union 
led  to  a  more  careful  cultivation  of  individual  givers  and  the 
developing  of  a  wider  circle  of  supporting  friends. 

Plan  for  Capital. — In  working  this  plan  the  first  effort  was 
to  retire  the  $125,000  outstanding  bonds  and  the  interest.  At 
the  same  time  the  stock  of  publications  was  reduced  and  the 
whole  business  put  upon  a  cash  basis  by  reduction  of  expenses 
to  such  an  extent  that  it  provided  for  the  liquidation  of  the 
floating  indebtedness  of  over  $20,000.  The  second  step  in  the 
plan  was  to  provide  for  the  payment  of  upward  of  $100,000 
borrowed  from  the  trust  funds.  Part  of  this  sum  had  gone  into 
bonds  for  the  formation  of  a  so-called  book  fund,  as  before 
stated.  When  this  fact  was  explained  to  those  who  gave  the 
bonds,  the  majority  of  them  cheerfully  made  the  same  an 
absolute  gift  to  the  Society,  to  the  amount  of  over  $30,000. 
The  remaining  sums  temporarily  borrowed  from  the  trust 


FINANCES  331 

funds  were  repaid  by  individual  contributions  to  meet  the 
general  indebtedness  and  provide  capital  for  the  Society. 

Literature  at  Cost. — Clearly  to  understand  the  financial 
history  of  the  Society  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  over  and 
over  again  its  friends  and  the  public  were  informed  that  it  was 
believed  to  be  necessary  to  furnish  its  literature  at,  and  often 
below,  cost  as  a  part  of  its  early  benevolent  work.  This  was 
done,  as  already  stated,  to  encourage  the  forming  of  schools 
in  new  communities  unable  to  provide  wholly  for  their  own 
equipment.  This  deficiency  was  intended  to  be  provided  by 
contributions  given  with  this  distinct  understanding,  that  they 
were  for  the  ''General  Fund."  But  the  heavy  and,  to  some 
extent,  the  unwarrantable  drafts  made  upon  that  fund  from 
time  to  time  to  pay  missionaries  had  been  one  great  cause  of 
the  accumulated  indebtedness.  Churches,  schools,  and  in- 
dividuals had  made  gifts  to  these  several  objects,  sometimes 
to  one  and  sometimes  to  the  other,  as  the  reasons  therefore 
appealed  to  them. 

When  the  Society  not  merely  adopted,  but  finally  decided  to 
adhere  to,  a  "no  debt  and  cash  policy,"  and  many  of  the 
churches  and  schools  that  had  hitherto  been  contributors 
turned  the  larger  portion  of  their  gifts  to  support  their  own 
denominational  work,  the  wisdom  of  enlisting  a  large  number 
of  individual  givers  in  the  support  of  the  Union  work  was  more 
apparent.  Several  of  those  who  were  prominent  in  its  man- 
agement and  direction  had  long  perceived  the  advantage  of 
giving  greater  prominence  to  the  cultivation  of  individual 
donors,  and  were  ready  to  follow  up  efforts  along  the  same 
line  that  had  been  pursued  in  the  plan  for  removing  the 
indebtedness  and  providing  an  adequate  capital  for  the 
Society. 

Bequests  and  Gifts. — It  is  not  necessary  to  weary  the  reader 
by  going  into  any  detailed  account  of  this  phase  in  the  de- 
velopment of  benevolent  Sunday-school  missionary  finances. 
Suffice  it  to  say,  that  those  sections  of  the  country  which  had 
been  most  benefited  by  the  early  work  of  the  Union  and  where 
the  greatest  number  of  pioneer  Sunday-schools  had  been  es- 
tablished— as,  for  example,  in  the  Mississippi  Valley  and  the 
Middle  West — enrolled  the  largest  number  of  generous  indi- 
vidual supporters.     In  fact,  the  managers  were  greatly  sur- 


332  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

prised  to  find  so  large  a  list  of  supporting  friends  in  nearly  every 
section  of  the  United  States. 

It  will  be  obvious  to  those  experienced  in  benevolent  work 
that  the  sums  received  by  bequests  or  legacies  are  often  due  to 
influences  which  have  been  set  in  motion  many  years  before 
the  bequests  are  received. 

The  Christian  and  philanthropic  people  of  the  New  England 
States,  famed  for  their  conscientious  and  liberal  giving,  had 
their  attention  turned  to  the  benevolent  work  of  the  Society 
very  early  in  its  history.  The  earnest  advocacy  of  its  efficient 
pioneer  work  in  the  newer  sections  of  the  country,  as  presented 
by  Francis  Wayland,  Henry  Clay  Trumbull,  Nelson  Kings- 
bury, Addison  P.  Foster,  W.  L.  Carver,  and  many  others 
equally  worthy,  has  brought  to  the  Society  from  the  New 
England  States,  in  addition  to  thousands  from  living  givers  for 
current  work,  many  legacies  and  bequests.  A  few  may  be 
noted:  the  Harris  bequest,  S3 1,000;  the  Camps  legacy,  $8,000; 
the  Chase,  $5,000;  Charles  Cobb,  $6,000;  the  Cook,  $5,000; 
the  Beach  gifts,  $12,000;  the  Colby,  $15,000;  the  Graves, 
$3,000;  the  S.  Mead  bequest,  $39,000;  the  Billings,  $15,000; 
the  Consecration  Fund,  $4,000;  the  Kendall  bequest,  $5,000; 
the  Kimbell,  $10,000;  the  Botsford  gift,  $3,000;  and  many 
others. 

Similar  personal  work  in  New  York  by  S.  B.  S.  Bissell,  J.  H. 
Burtis,  F.  H.  Wisewell,  L.  Milton  Marsh,  E.  P.  Bancroft,  and 
others,  wonderfully  aided  and  supplemented  by  officers  and 
managers  of  the  Society  resident  in  the  city,  and  by  such  pas- 
tors as  the  late  Dr.  John  Hall,  increased  its  resources  by  these 
among  other  notable  gifts  and  bequests:  Dr.  Silliman,  $50,000; 
the  Andrews  gifts,  $22,000;  the  Elys,  $75,000;  S.  B.  Hill, 
$30,000;  Peter  Lott,  $18,000;  the  Stuarts  gifts,  $80,000; 
the  Neefus,  $15,000;  Webster,  $4,000;  Strong,  $13,000;  Stone, 
$61,000;  the  Jesups  gifts,  $150,000;  the  Schieffelin  Bros., 
$40,000,  and  many  like  generous  givers,  who  were  interested 
in  some  particular  form  of  service  rendered  by  Sunday-school 
agencies. 

Most  of  the  large  sums,  named  above  and  below,  were  in- 
tended for  some  special  form  of  work  or  were  limited  to  some 
special  district,  so  that  neither  the  principal  nor  income  could  be 
used  for  the  Society's  general  work.    For  the  support  of  Sunday- 


FINANCES  333 

Schools  and  Bible  instruction  in  all  its  branches,  throughout  the 
country,  these  specific  gifts  have  greatly  increased  the  necessity 
for  a  large  increase  of  contributions  for  the  general  work.  These 
individual  givers  and  gifts  must  continue  to  multiply  in  order  to 
sustain  the  ordinary  work  not  only,  but  are  needful  to  enable 
the  Society  wisely  to  use  the  special  funds. 

The  officers  and  managers  in  Philadelphia  and  vicinity  dur- 
ing the  last  thirty  years  became  specially  interested  in  making 
personal  gifts  and  in  influencing  others  to  add  to  the  Society's 
resources.  Besides  the  several  gifts  and  bequests,  which  have 
been  noted  in  previous  pages,  the  Cresson,  Green,  Wurts, 
and  Raikes  funds  and  other  sums  given  to  liquidate  the  in- 
debtedness and  to  relieve  the  embarrassment  of  the  Society, 
the  following,  among  others,  may  be  mentioned:  S.  C.  Brace, 
$15,000;  A.  M.  Powers,  $14,000;  Samuel  Ashhurst,  $7,000; 
H.  S.  Benson,  $25,000;  Brunot,  $4,000;  Detwiler,  86,000;  J.  L. 
Erringer,  $5,000;  C.  W.  Henry,  $5,000;  Lowry,  S110,000  (less 
$5,000  tax);  Troutman,  $5,000;  and  several  who  requested 
that  their  names  and  gifts  should  not  be  made  public. 

In  the  central  section  of  Ohio,  Indiana,  and  Michigan, 
Chidlaw  with  his  Welsh  eloquence,  W.  A.  Hillis  with  his  mag- 
netic personality,  Thomas  Wright,  Geo.  F.  Henderson,  and 
others,  have  awakened  an  interest  among  the  people  of  that 
region  that  was  really  nation-wide  and  brought  numerous  gifts 
and  bequests  bearing  the  ear-marks  of  personality.  These, 
among  others,  will  be  recalled  by  residents  of  that  district: 
S.  Houston,  $25,000;  Davis,  $5,000;  and  the  Yandes  Brothers, 
$67,000. 

As  might  be  expected,  there  was  a  splendid  development  of 
individual  donors  in  the  Middle  Northwest,  with  Chicago  as  a 
center.  It  was  in  this  region  of  the  Great  Lakes  and  the  Mis- 
sissippi Valley  that  the  first  great  pioneer  work  in  planting 
Sunday-schools  was  accomplished.  When  the  people  of  that 
region  who  became  the  spiritual  inheritors  of  that  work  began 
to  amass  wealth,  it  was  Christian  and  natural  that  their  grati- 
tude should  be  expressed  in  generosity  toward  the  organization 
that  had  been  prominent  in  fostering  the  pioneer  religious  work 
of  that  region.  It  is  significant  also  that  many  of  the  leaders 
were  laymen.  There  were  A.  W.  Corey,  Stephen  Paxson,  D. 
L.  Moody,  and,  conspicuously,  F.  G.  Ensign,  with  his  associate 
E.  B.  Stevenson,  and  others.    Mr.  Ensign  was  especially  happy 


334  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

in  his  appeals  to  business  men.  "Let  us  not  be  deceived,"  he 
said,  "unsanctified  wealth  and  unsanctified,  though  cultured, 
brains  have  elements  of  weakness  in  a  republic  like  ours. 
To  spend  a  million  of  dollars  a  day  in  building  railroads,  and 
$350  a  day  to  give  the  11,000,000  children  and  youth  the 
Sunday-school,  is  like  building  a  palatial  ocean  steamer,  fur- 
nished with  every  modern  appliance,  and  then  to  add  a  ten- 
dollar  rudder  made  of  tin." 

With  his  great  zeal  and  his  commanding  presence,  he  was 
successful  in  enlisting  the  business  men  of  Chicago  and  the 
Middle  West  to  a  remarkable  extent  in  the  support  of  the 
Society  which  he  served.  The  gifts  and  bequests  from  this 
region  represent  much  self-denial;  the  multitude  of  small 
amounts  being  quite  as  noble  as  the  more  princely  sums. 
Among  them  were  the  fund  of  the  three  Adamses,  $39,000;  Bar- 
ney, $9,000;  Crerar,  $50,000;  Curtis,  $7,000;  Drake,  $21,000; 
J.  N.  Field,  $45,000;  L.  Gould,  $11,000;  H.  A.  Jones,  $10,000; 
Murdock,  $700,000  (less  $50,000  tax) ;  S.  Reid,  $5,000;  Sprague, 
$19,000;  G.  and  R.  Scott,  $33,000;  K.  S.  Isham,  $20,000; 
E.  French,  $17,000;  Hinckley,  $4,000;  Keith,  $5,000.  Nearly 
all  these  sums  were  for  special  work  in  the  Middle  West,  and 
were  and  are  not  available  for  the  promotion  of  Sunday-schools 
in  other  great  and  very  needy  sections  of  the  country. 

The  South,  Southwest,  and  the  Pacific  Coast  have  been  so 
absorbed  in  caring  for  their  own  local  work  that  they  have  not 
yet  responded  by  as  many  large  gifts  toward  the  accumulated 
resources  of  the  Society.  There  are  not  wanting,  however, 
many  indications  that  the  people  of  these  sections  are  inter- 
ested, and  as  material  prosperity  increases  their  characteristic 
generosity  will  be  manifested  side  by  side  with  that  which  has 
been  recorded  of  those  in  the  North.  We  note  these  bequests 
among  those:  G.  S.  Jones,  $7,000;  J.  T.  Clark,  $10,000;  be- 
sides those  from  many  givers  yet  living. 

Funds  Yet  Needed.— Lest  the  reader  should  infer  from  these 
generous  bequests  that  the  American  Sunday-School  Union 
does  not  need  large  gifts,  let  him  be  advised  that  no  small  por- 
tion of  these  gifts  were  promptly  used  in  support  of  benevolent 
work — the  Society  distributing  the  same  over  one  or  more 
decades  to  avoid  undue  expansion  and  contraction  in  its  ser- 
vice.    Other  of  these  gifts  were  designated  for  specific  and 


FINANCES  335 

special  fields  in  which  the  donors  were  particularly  interested 
during  their  lifetime,  and  the  income  of  which  cannot  be  used 
for  any  other  purpose.  Thus  the  Society  is  required  to  ex- 
pend the  income  from  many  of  the  largest  bequests  in  what  was 
known  at  the  time  they  were  executed  as  the  Northwest  Dis- 
trict, and  cannot  use  them  elsewhere.  The  very  fact  that  these 
bequests  enabled  the  Society  to  do  so  large  a  work  in  the  North- 
west created  a  demand  for  a  similar  service  in  other  sections 
which  the  Union  had  no  funds  to  meet.  It  has  an  imperative 
need  for  $100,000  to  aid  in  sustaining  mission  schools  in  the 
rural  South,  and  an  equal  sum  for  the  Southwest.  Another 
larger  sum  will  be  required  to  provide  Bible  schools  for  many 
sections  remote  from  churches  in  the  growing  Pacific  Coast 
region. 

The  demands  for  elementary  teacher  training  everywhere, 
in  the  Union  schools  remote  from  churches  and  from  centers 
where  such  advantages  are  available,  are  so  numerous,  and  the 
means  of  the  people  needing  to  be  reached  so  limited,  that 
more  than  $200,000  are  required  efficiently  to  maintain  this 
Union  teacher-training  work.  The  multiplied  calls  also  for 
better  equipment  of  rural  schools,  for  improved  appliances  and 
to  introduce  the  improved  modern  methods  of  instruction, 
are  so  pressing  that  the  workers  in  their  desire  to  meet  these 
imperative  needs  are  overtaxing  the  resources  of  the  Society 
year  by  year.  The  Union  should  have  an  income  of  $250,000 
to  apply  to  the  equipment  and  improvement  of  schools  that 
cannot  be  well  cared  for  by  the  country  churches,  and  for 
many  that  are  yet  beyond  the  reach  of  any  church. 

And  lastly,  although  not  least,  a  campaign  of  education  and 
information  for  the  moral  and  spiritual  betterment  of  rural 
communities  where  the  churches  are  weak  would  immensely 
strengthen  the  influence  of  the  weak  churches  and  increase  the 
power  of  Christian  churches  throughout  the  rural  sections  of 
the  country.  The  Society  ought  to  have  at  least  another 
$100,000,  the  income  of  which  might  be  applied  for  this 
splendid  work. 

Finances  of  Conventions  and  Associations. — The  expenses  of 
the  National  Sunday-School  Conventions  of  1832,  1833  and 
1859  appear  to  have  been  provided  by  voluntary  contribu- 
tions from  a  few  leaders  and  friends.     The  delegates  to  these 


336  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

conventions  provided  their  own  traveling  and  other  expenses, 
or  they  were  paid  in  some  cases  by  the  local  organizations  and 
schools  which  they  represented. 

At  the  meetings  of  the  National  and  International  Sunday- 
School  Conventions  of  1872  and  on,  appeals  were  made  to  the 
delegates  in  session  for  funds  to  carry  forward  the  work  for  the 
triennium  succeeding  each  convention.  A  change  in  name 
from  National  to  International  Sunday-School  Convention 
was  made  in  1875,  and  it  met  thereafter  (as  it  had  from  1869) 
once  in  three  years.  The  method  pursued  at  the  International 
Convention  in  1899  will  indicate  its  general  plan  for  securing 
funds  during  the  past  generation.  At  the  Convention  of  1899, 
B.  F.  Jacobs,  acting  for  the  Executive  Committee,  outlined  the 
plans  of  the  Convention  for  the  coming  three  years,  and  said 
to  carry  them  out  would  require  not  less  than  $12,000  per  an- 
num, or  a  total  of  $36,000  for  the  triennum.     He  said: 

We  have  at  least  two  ways  of  getting  this  offering  and  secur- 
ing this  money.  The  first  is  to  have  the  money  pledged  by  the 
state  association  or  provincial  or  territorial  association  directly 
for  the  support  of  the  work.  The  best  plan  as  I  believe  is  that 
a  Sunday-school  shall  not  be  called  upon  to  make  but  one  offer- 
ing for  international,  state  and  county  Sunday-school  work;  that 
the  boy  who  gives  one  cent  knows  that  he  is  giving  a  part  of  that 
cent  to  his  county  work,  to  his  state  work,  and  to  the  international 
work;  and  I  hope  the  time  will  come  when  he  will  give  a  part  of  it 
to  the  work  in  the  world  outside  of  that.  As  an  illustration  of 
his  plan,  Mr.  Jacobs  added,  Our  expenses  reach  about  $10,000 
per  annum  in  Illinois  and  we  do  not  know  what  it  is  to  suffer  for 
money.  It  all  comes  in  this  way,  and  there  is  not  a  company  of 
a  few  rich  men  who  stand  back  and  make  up  deficiencies. 
Pledges  were  called  for  from  the  delegates,  and  it  was  said, 
Understand,  it  is  not  a  legal  obligation  when  you  make  a 
pledge,  you  will  be  forgiven  if  you  are  unable  to  pay  it.  But 
it  will  have  to  be  forgiveness  and  not  excuse.  We  want  the 
money.  We  will  have  the  cards  passed.  Understand  the  amount 
pledged  is  so  much  per  annum  for  three  years.1 

The  pledges  were  then  made  by  states  and  provinces 
amounting  to  nearly  $30,000.  The  pledges  were  to  be  paid 
one-third  each  year  in  advance.  Similar  methods  had  been 
pursued  at  several  previous  conventions  and  were  continued  at 
the  convention  meetings  of  the  International  Sunday-School 
Association  into  the  present  century.     When  the  International 

»  Report,  Organized  Sunday-School  Work  in  America,  1S99,  pp.  131-133. 


FINANCES  337 

Sunday-School  Convention  was  incorporated  as  the  Inter- 
national Sunday-School  Association  in  1907,  the  funds  were 
provided  in  part  by  life  memberships  of  $1000  each,  in  addi- 
tion to  the  pledges  made  by  delegates  at  the  convention. 
Among  the  leaders  conspicuous  in  making  this  change  were  W. 
N.  Hartshorn,  Marion  Lawrance,  E.  K.  Warren,  George  W. 
Bailey,  H.  J.  Heinz,  Fred.  A.  Wells,  J.  J.  Maclaren,  W.  A. 
Eudaly  and  others,  who  became  trustees  by  the  charter. 

Since  the  act  of  incorporation,  this  Board  of  Trustees  Is 
''charged  with  the  financial  affairs  of  the  Association,  includ- 
ing the  raising  and  disbursing  of  all  money  and  the  auditing 
of  all  bills." 

State  Sunday-School  Unions. — As  early  as  1825  and  before, 
the  Sunday-school  workers  in  each  state  began  to  form  organ- 
izations which  were  then  called  ' 'State  Sunday-School  Unions," 
which  were  usually  auxiliary  to  the  American  Sunday-School 
Union.  Their  finances  were  provided  by  voluntary  gifts  and 
pledges  in  part,  supplemented  by  appropriations  in  cash,  or 
in  publications  or  services  furnished  by  the  parent  Union. 
Similar  appropriations  were  made  also  to  local  unions  in  large 
cities  like  Philadelphia,  New  York  and  Cincinnati.  Thus 
the  reports  of  the  American  Sunday-School  Union  show  that 
appropriations  were  made  to  the  New  York  Sunday-School 
Union  Society  for  ten  years  (1848-1857)  exceeding  $36,000, 
and  in  the  next  ten  years  (1858-1867)  similar  appropriations 
were  made  to  several  auxiliaries,  including  New  York,  amount- 
ing to  upward  of  $45,000.  The  appropriations  made  by  the 
parent  Society  to  local  Unions  previous  to  1873  amount  to 
over  $130,000,  not  including  those  previous  to  1844,  of  which 
no  detailed  accounts  have  been  found.  The  financial  efforts 
of  these  State  Sunday-School  Unions  aDd  of  the  local  Unions 
from  1825  to  1870  prepared  the  way  for  raising  the  funds  re- 
quired by  the  later  State  Sunday-School  Conventions  which 
were  formed  in  that  period  and  have  continued  for  about 
half  a  century.  Most  of  these  state  conventions  or  associa- 
tions are  incorporated  in  their  respective  states  and  are  inde- 
pendent of  one  another,  while  they  co-operate  more  or  less 
efficiently  with  the  International  Sunday-School  Association. 
They  solicit  funds  for  their  own  work,  and  several  of  them 
have  been  accustomed  to  appropriate  a  certain  amount  toward 


338  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

the  support  of  the  International  Association.  Many  of  the 
states  raise  their  finances  in  a  manner  similar  to  that  pursued 
by  the  International  Association  as  described  above. 

The  denominational  Sunday-school  organizations  provide 
their  finances  by  direct  appeal  to  the  churches  and  Sunday- 
schools  of  their  order,  and  to  their  friends.  While  these  are 
also  voluntary  gifts,  the  members  recognize  an  obligation  to 
sustain  these  and  other  phases  of  their  special  church  work. 

Finances  of  Local  Schools. — The  methods  pursued  by  the 
local  schools  to  provide  for  their  respective  expenses  vary 
widely  according  to  conditions  and  customs  and  ideas  of  the 
people  of  the  community  where  the  school  is  located.  The 
answers  to  the  question  asked  by  the  first  National  Sunday- 
school  Convention,  "What  is  your  method  of  raising  funds  for 
the  support  of  the  school?"  reveal  the  methods  of  schools  then. 
The  replies,  for  the  most  part,  stated  that  they  raised  funds  by 
voluntary  subscription,  by  contributions  and  by  collections. 
In  some  cases  the  church  was  expected  to  support  its  school, 
but  the  answers  from  many  quarters  indicate  that  this  expec- 
tation was  not  realized. 

Some  remarked  that  it  was  a  disgrace  to  the  church  that  in 
so  many  schools  the  teachers  are  often  left  to  bear  the  greater 
part  of  the  expenses.1  In  other  Cases  some  committees  or 
persons  were  appointed  to  obtain  the  funds.  In  a  few  cases  a 
regular  tax  was  levied  on  teachers  and  on  individuals  to  sup- 
port the  local  school.  In  other  cases  a  number  of  persons 
voluntarily  joined  together,  to  make  an  annual  subscription 
and  contribution,  sufficient  to  pay  the  expenses  of  the  local 
school.  Collections  for  this  object  were  often  made  at  the 
Monthly  Concert  of  Prayer,  at  meetings  of  the  local  associa- 
tion, or  of  the  teachers,  and  at  stated  seasons  collections  were 
sometimes  made  at  the  church  service,  after  hearing  an  annual 
sermon  relating  to  Sunday-school  work. 

In  many  places  the  churches  have  adopted  modern  business 
methods  for  providing  these  local  expenses.  Churches  place 
the  expenses  of  the  Sunday-school  in  with  the  general  budget  of 
annual  church  expenses,  just  as  it  should  be  whenever  prac- 
ticable. It  is  a  lamentable  fact,  however,  that  in  many  com- 
munities the  teachers  and  friends,  who  give  the  time  and  at- 

1  On  Value  of  Sunday-School  Teachers'  services. 


FINANCES  339 

tention  to  the  conducting  of  the  school,  are  also  left  to  defray 
the  expenses  or  to  secure  funds  therefor,  as  best  they  may 
from  their  friends.  When  all  of  the  followers  of  the  Master 
recognize  their  obligation  in  full,  then  the  expenses  of  the  local 
schools,  like  all  other  funds  required  for  carrying  on  religious 
work,  will  be  furnished  according  to  the  Apostle's  general  rule: 
"Upon  the  first  day  of  the  week  let  every  one  of  you  lay  by  him 
in  store,  as  God  hath  prospered  him."  "Every  man  as  he 
hath  purposed  in  his  heart,  so  let  him  give;  not  grudgingly, 
nor  of  necessity:  for  God  loveth  a  cheerful  giver"  (1  Cor.  16  : 
2;  2  Cor.  9  : 7). 

SKETCHES   OF  PROMINENT  WORKERS 

Jay  Cooke  (1821-1905);  Manager  (1854-1861);  Vice-President 
(1870-1905). 

Jay  Cooke  attained  world-wide  fame  as  a  financier.  He 
became  a  manager  of  the  American  Sunday-School  Union  in 
1854,  serving  on  important  financial  and  special  committees, 
and  aided  in  persuading  the  creditors  of  the  Society  to  grant  it 
an  extension  and  permit  it  to  continue  its  work,  though  very 
heavily  in  debt.  Pressed  by  raising  finances  for  the  govern- 
ment during  the  Civil  War,  Mr.  Cooke  felt  constrained  to 
withdraw  from  the  Society's  service  for  a  time.  In  1870  he 
accepted  the  position  of  vice-president,  giving  the  Society 
counsel,  time,  and  contributions  until  his  death  in  1905. 

Mr.  Cooke  was  not  only  a  great  financier,  he  was  a  noble 
patriot  and  a  sincere  Christian.  His  sagacity,  enthusiasm, 
and  patriotism  successfully  floated  great  war  loans  in  1861-65 
and  inspired  the  people  to  take  government  bonds  to  the 
amount  of  $2,500,000,000,  when  great  bankers  declared 
$50,000,000  would  be  the  utmost  that  could  be  expected. 

He  was  born  in  Sandusky,  Ohio,  1821,  and  trained  as  a 
banker  in  Philadelphia.  His  firm,  Jay  Cooke  &  Co.,  main- 
tained the  nation's  imperilled  credit.  Some  years  later,  when 
forced  to  suspend,  and  start  comparatively  a  poor  man  in 
business  life,  he  succeeded  in  making  a  fortune  and  in  paying 
all  his  creditors  in  full,  with  interest.  During  his  entire  career 
he  practiced  a  systematic  plan  of  benevolence,  putting  aside  a 
definite  part  of  his  income  for  charity.     But  his  gifts  were  al- 


340  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

ways  without  display,  and  often  without  the  giver  being 
known.  His  large  gifts  were  usually  made  without  solicita- 
tion. 

He  had  a  sunny  disposition  and  spread  brightness  and  hap- 
piness around  him  through  his  long  and  useful  life.  He  was 
a  generous  friend  of  the  American  Sunday-School  Union,  using 
many  hundreds  of  dollars'  worth  of  literature,  which  he  dis- 
tributed regularly  to  those  unable  or  unwilling  to  purchase  it, 
making  gifts  to  its  mission  work,  besides  sharing  in  its  counsels 
and  financial  management. 

With  characteristic  fidelity,  he  examined  anew  into  the 
economy  and  efficiency  of  the  management  of  the  American 
Sunday-School  Union  before  responding  to  the  personal  appeal 
of  its  Committee  for  Special  Contributions  to  liquidate  its  debt 
and  provide  it  with  adequate  capital.  The  writer  recalls  Mr. 
Cooke's  searching  questions,  demanding  a  knowledge  of  au- 
thentic documents  and  the  financial  records  of  the  Society  to 
answer.  When  satisfied  by  his  investigations,  with  his  usual 
quietness  Mr.  Cooke  gave  a  check  for  several  thousands  of 
dollars,  remarking,  "Do  not  publish  nor  tell  any  one  of  this 
contribution."  "How  then  shall  it  be  acknowledged  by  the 
Society's  treasurer?"  he  was  asked.  "Oh,  just  say  'From  a 
friend.'  "  It  was  a  happy  illustration  of  what  the  Master 
said  about  giving  (Matt.  6:3). 

George  Hay  Stuart  (1816-1890),  1848-1883. 

Of  mercurial  temper,  with  flashing  blue  eyes  and  an  ener- 
getic personality,  Mr.  Stuart  was  a  conspicuous  person  in  any 
assembly,  and  was  happy  in  presiding  over  large  meetings.  He 
delighted  to  speak  of  all  the  great  men  of  his  day  as  special 
friends.  Cosmopolitan  in  his  views,  probably  he  will  be  long- 
est remembered  for  his  service  during  the  Civil  War  (1861-65) 
as  chairman  of  the  Christian  Commission.  For  more  than 
thirty  years  he  was  the  superintendent  of  the  Sunday-school 
in  his  own  church  and  was  unanimously  chosen  president  of 
the  third  National  Sunday-School  Convention,  Newark,  New 
Jersey,  1869.  He  had  then  been  a  manager  of  the  American 
Sunday-School  Union  since  1848  and  continued  to  be  an  officer 
of  the  Society  until  1883. 

The  youngest  of  three  children,  he  was  born  in  Ireland  in 


FINANCES  341 

1816  of  a  well-to-do  family,  members  of  the  Irish  Presby- 
terian Church.  He  came  to  America  when  young,  finding 
a  home  with  his  uncle,  William  H.  Scott  of  Philadelphia, 
in  1831.  He  was  active  and  ardent  in  many  forms  of  re- 
ligious work. 

His  interest  in  the  American  Sunday-School  Union  led  him 
frequently  to  entertain  three  of  its  old  and  faithful  mission- 
aries, John  McCullagh,  B.  W.  Chidlaw,  and  Stephen  Paxson, 
when  they  came  to  the  East  to  tell  the  story  of  their  work. 
He  was  a  great  admirer  of  Stephen  Paxson  and  counted  him 
"a  man  of  a  thousand."  Paxson's  racy  humor  and  inex- 
haustible fund  of  anecdotes  delighted  Mr.  Stuart.  His 
sketches  of  frontier  experience  brought  vividly  before  his  host 
a  life  fascinating  through  its  contrasts  with  that  in  the  East, 
so  that  he  declared,  "Few  men  living  have  occupied  a  warmer 
place  in  my  heart."  Mr.  Stuart  was  apt  to  spring  questions 
upon  the  Society  and  carry  them  through  by  sudden  excite- 
ment. In  the  trying  period  of  1857  to  1861,  when  the  Society 
was  heavily  in  debt — the  impending  war  cutting  off  its  re- 
sources so  that  its  friends  were  discouraged  if  not  almost  in 
despair — two  courses  were  open :  severe  retrenchment,  or  wild 
plunging  ahead,  meeting  all  calls,  however  large,  and  trusting 
to  the  boldness  of  the  movement  to  bring  increased  support  and 
income.  Conservative  managers  favored  retrenchment  and 
placing  all  the  Society's  operations  on  a  cash  or  "no  debt" 
basis.  But  the  enthusiasm  of  Mr.  Stuart  in  favor  of  inflation 
temporarily  prevailed.  Among  other  things,  it  was  deter- 
mined to  publish  a  new  book  each  week,  start  The  Sunday- 
School  Times  weekly,  for  teachers,  and  undertake  correspond- 
ing expansions  in  mission  work.  Unfortunately  for  this  view, 
the  public  mind  was  too  busy  with  the  coming  storm  of  Civil 
War  to  give  attention  to  these  dashing  plans  or  to  respond  to 
the  call  for  funds  to  support  them. 

Mr.  Stuart  chafed  under  these  conditions.  He  was  restless 
as  a  caged  lion.  His  own  firm  going  into  liquidation,  he  had 
only  counsel  and  advice  to  give.  His  enthusiasm  made  him  a 
prominent  leader,  though  not  always  a  prudent  one  where 
economy  as  well  as  efficiency  was  required.  But  at  times  he 
appreciated  the  less  spectacular  side  of  every  good  work. 
Thus  he  declared  at  one  of  the  Union's  anniversaries, 


342  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

This  Society  has  not  been  making  a  great  noise,  but  it  has 
been  doing  a  great  work.  ...  It  goes  before  all  the  churches 
as  the  breaker-up  of  the  way.  It  goes  into  the  wilderness 
and  waste  places,  preparing  the  way  of  the  Lord.  It  organizes 
Union  Sabbath-schools  that  afterward  become  churches. 
They  may  be  Episcopal,  Baptist,  Methodist,  Reformed,  Luth- 
eran, or  Presbyterian,  or  any  one  of  the  various  names,  but 
the  Union  goes  before  them  all,  preparing  a  way  for  them. 

His  characteristic  breeziness  of  manner  made  everybody  give 
attention  when  he  appeared  on  the  scene,  whether  it  was  a 
public  assembly,  or  a  deliberative  meeting  of  managers,  or  a 
conference  with  the  officers  of  the  Union.  He  was  often  laid 
aside  by  distressing  attacks  of  asthma,  but  when  he  appeared 
afterward  it  would  seem  that  he  wanted  to  make  up  for  lost 
time,  for  he  would  dash  into  the  Society's  building  like  a  cy- 
clone, asking  questions  and  calling  for  information  that  would 
take  the  time  of  a  dozen  workers  for  weeks  to  furnish.  Later 
his  disagreement  with  the  majority  of  the  managers  became 
more  pronounced  and  his  health  more  uncertain/so  that,  his 
term  of  office  expiring,  his  connection  with  the  Union  came  to 
an  end  in  1883.  Having  such  a  man  in  an  institution  made 
stagnation  impossible.1 

Robert  Lenox  Kennedy  (1822-1887),  Fourth  President  of  the 
American  Sunday-School  Union  (1873-1882). 

Among  men  of  large  administrative  abilities,  Robert  Lenox 
Kennedy  was  esteemed  for  his  integrity,  his  far-sighted  busi- 
ness wisdom,  and  his  singularly  retiring  disposition.  He  was 
born  in  New  York,  November  24,  1822,  and  graduated  at 
Columbia  College.  He  studied  law,  but  never  entered  the 
profession.  He  chose  business  and  banking,  and  rose  to 
eminence,  for  over  ten  years  being  president  of  the  Bank  of 
Commerce,  then  one  of  the  largest  banks  in  New  York.  He 
filled  many  positions  of  honor  and  trust  in  benevolent  insti- 
tutions, among  them  the  Lenox  Library,  founded  by  his  uncle, 
Robert  Lenox.  His  attention  was  drawn  to  the  work  of  the 
American  Sunday-School  Union  by  a  daughter  of  one  of  its 
managers,  whom  he  married. 

After  serving  as  manager  for  upward  of  a  dozen  years,  he 
was  unanimously  elected  president  of  the  Society,  May,  1873, 

1  See  also  Biography  of  George  H.  Stuart,  edited  by  Prof.  Robert  Ellis  Thompson. 


FINANCES  343 

to  succeed  John  A.  Brown.  He  applied  the  same  ability,  dis- 
crimination, and  judgment  in  grasping  its  work  that  he  had 
shown  in  business.  j>  Its  objects  and  methods  had  a  firm  place 
in  his  confidence.  He  became  interested  in  the  faithful  ser- 
vice of  "Father"  Martin,  and  showed  his  appreciation  of  it  by 
a  gift  of  $10,000,  creating  the  "Wurts  Fund,"  in  memory  of 
his  first  wife,  requesting  that  the  income  be  applied  toward  the 
support  of  Mr.  Martin  during  his  lifetime.  Mr.  Kennedy  was 
the  trusted  friend  and  advisor  of  John  C.  Green  and,  on  behalf 
of  Mrs.  Green  and  the  other  residuary  legatees,  he  conveyed 
in  trust  to  the  American  Sunday-School  Union  $100,000  from 
the  Green  Estate,  to  promote  the  Union's  work.  With  the 
cordial  concurrence  of  Mrs.  Green,  the  trust  directs  that  five- 
sixths  of  the  income  of  this  fund  be  applied  to  the  support 
of  the  Society's  missionary  work,  and  one-sixth  of  it  be  set 
aside  to  aid  the  Union  "in  securing  a  Sunday-school  literature 
of  the  highest  order  of  merit."  This  may  be  done  either  by 
procuring  works  upon  a  given  subject  germane  to  the  objects 
of  the  Society,  to  be  written  or  compiled  by  authors  of  estab- 
lished reputation  or  known  ability,  or  by  offering  premiums 
for  manuscripts  for  publication  by  the  Union,  in  accordance 
with  the  objects  of  the  institution.  Many  valuable  works 
have  been  issued  under  the  provisions  of  this  fund.  (Ap- 
pendix, p.  479,  List  of  Green  Fund  Books.) 

His  frequent  absences  abroad  and  his  many  business  and 
benevolent  interests  so  absorbed  his  strength  that  Mr.  Ken- 
nedy positively  declined  re-election  to  the  presidency  in  1882. 
He  passed  to  the  other  life  while  returning  from  Europe,  Sep- 
tember 14,  1887,  leaving  the  world  an  example  of  Christian 
integrity  and  noble  service. 

Lewis  R.  Ashhurst. 

For  thirty-five  years  Lewis  R.  Ashhurst  was  regarded  as 
foremost  among  the  managers  of  the  American  Sunday-School 
Union.  Indeed,,  so  influential  was  he  in  its  councils  that  it 
became  a  facetious  remark  among  some  of  his  close  friends, 
"Mr.  Ashhurst  carries  the  American  Sunday-School  Union  in 
his  breast  pocket."  The  records  and  correspondence  of  the 
Society  during  the  stormy  period  of  1860  and  1861  impress  one 
with  the  general  truth  of  this  humorous  remark.     Mr.  Ash- 


344  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

hurst  shunned  anything  spectacular,  and  never  "played  to  the 
galleries. "  His  repeated  reports  upon  the  finances  and  mis- 
sionary and  general  work  of  the  Society  show  that  he  had 
gained  a  comprehensive  and  exact  knowledge  of  the  purpose, 
history,  and  polity  of  the  Society  at  first  hand.  He  was 
familiar  with  every  important  measure  adopted  or  proposed 
for  a  generation.  His  services  were  manifold  and  important, 
as  the  writer  has  abundant  reason,  personally,  to  know.  His 
influence  was  foremost  and  powerful  in  securing  the  adoption 
of  the  Uniform  Lesson  scheme  of  1872.  His  strong  convictions 
and  sense  of  justice  made  him  a  strong  friend  of  Dr.  F.  A. 
Packard,  and  his  wisest  and  most  efficient  supporter.  To  him, 
as  much  as  to  any  other  person,  is  the  Society  indebted  for  its 
deliverance  from  the  long  and  distracting  dissensions  which 
preceded  the  Civil  War. 

James  Bayard,  his  life  associate,  voiced  the  esteem  in  which 
Mr.  Ashhurst  was  held: 

As  a  practical  man  of  business  and  of  excellent  judgment, 
he  made  himself  familiar  with  all  the  workings  of  the  Society 
and  was  invaluable  as  a  manager.  A  steady  friend  in  all  cir- 
cumstances of  adversity  as  well  as  prosperity,  he  stood  firm  in 
times  of  greatest  peril  and  contributed  largely  and  efficiently 
by  his  counsels  and  his  means  for  the  support  of  the  Society. 
As  chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Missions,  and  member  of  the 
Committee  on  Publication,  he  exerted  a  constant  influence  on 
all  the  operations  of  the  Society. 

His  associates  declared  that  his  removal  by  death  deprived 
them  of  a  wise  counsellor,  an  efficient  manager,  and  a  highly 
esteemed  friend.  It  was  due  to  his  patient  investigation  of  its 
obligations,  and  his  financial  wisdom,  that  the  Union  suc- 
ceeded in  satisfying  the  pressing  demands  of  a  committee  of  its 
creditors  for  immediate  payment.  His  presentation  of  the 
services  of  the  Society  in  promoting  the  betterment  of  the 
country,  and  of  its  record  and  conditions,  was  so  lucid  and 
strong  that  the  creditors  cordially  granted  extension  of  time 
and  proposed  to  aid  the  Union  to  continue  the  good  work  in 
which  it  had  achieved  so  much.  They  appreciated  the  benef- 
icent spirit  which  led  the  managers  of  the  Society  to  respond 
so  liberally  to  the  calls  for  aid  in  frontier  and  forming  com- 
munities, and  which  was  the  chief  cause  of  the  financial  em- 


FINANCES  345 

barrassment.  They  recognized,  also,  that  with  men  like  Mr. 
Ashhurst,  Jay  Cooke,  John  A.  Brown,  and  James  Bayard  the 
Society  would  surely  and  honorably  discharge  every  obliga- 
tion, and  that  they,  as  creditors,  would  be  acting  discreetly  to 
win  its  friends  as  customers.  In  all  phases  of  this  delicate  and 
difficult  situation  Lewis  R.  Ashhurst  proved  the  man  for  the 
hour,  raised  up  of  God  for  this  important  service. 

Levi  Knowles  (1813-1898).  Manager.  Treasurer  and  Vice- 
President  (1842-1898). 

For  the  long  period  of  fifty-six  years  Mr.  Knowles  served 
the  American  Sunday-School  Union  as  manager  and  officer. 
Successful  as  a  flour  merchant,  diligent  in  business,  yet  he  gave 
large  portions  of  his  time,  money,  and  abilities  to  benevolent 
and  philanthropic  work.  Bountiful  in  his  service  to  his  own 
church  (Baptist),  he  was  abundant  in  labors  in  undenomina- 
tional organizations;  having,  at  one  time  or  another,  been  the 
treasurer  of  no  less  than  fifteen  benevolent  societies  and  a 
prominent  officer  in  six  other  similar  institutions. 

He  became  a  manager  of  the  American  Sunday-School  Union 
in  1842,  treasurer  in  1861,  and  vice-president  from  1875  until 
his  death.  He  outlived  all  his  associates  in  service,  continu- 
ing vigorous  in  mind,  active  in  body,  and  young  in  heart.  He 
counted  his  service  in  the  Union  as  the  best  of  his  life.  He  was 
earnest,  never  impulsive;  prudent,  yet  progressive;  patient, 
never  in  haste,  yet  thinking  and  acting  with  dispatch  and 
precision.  His  high  sense  of  honor,  conscientiousness,  and 
sterling  integrity  commanded  the  confidence  of  his  associates, 
so  that  he  was  urged  to  remain  in  the  Board  even  when  an  ex- 
pansive policy  was  adopted  (1859-1861)  contrary  to  his  best 
judgment,  and  was  soon  elected  treasurer  and  aided  in  carry- 
ing the  Union  through  a  financial  crisis  in  its  history.  As 
treasurer,  he  humorously  said  he  "received  no  compensation, 
not  even  a  postage  stamp,"  but  he  did  receive  the  esteem  and 
gratitude  of  all  his  co-laborers.  Calm  and  courteous  in  manner, 
sound  in  judgment,  clear  in  his  grasp  of  affairs,  his  patient 
examination  into  every  phase  of  great  questions,  his  prudent 
counsel,  his  firm  adherence  to  convictions,  his  self-denial  for 
others,  and  his  generous  gifts,  won  a  high  place  in  the  esteem 
of  all  his  associates  and  inspired  them  with  thankfulness  to 


346  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

God  for  the  blessed  fellowship  they  had  so  long  with  him  in  the 
work  of  the  Lord.1 

Hon.  William  Strong,  LL.D.  (1808-1895),  Fifth  President  of  the 
American  Sunday-School  Union  (1883-1895). 

Judge  Strong  came  to  the  leadership  of  the  Society  at  a  time 
when  there  was  a  call  for  a  deliverer — some  one  able  to  point 
the  way  to  a  marked  advanced  movement.  For  nearly  a 
quarter  of  a  century  he  had  been  one  of  its  officers.  For  more 
than  fifty  years  the  Union  had  responded  to  pressing  calls  for 
missionary  and  benevolent  services,  even  when  its  treasury 
was  empty  and  it  was  already  burdened  with  a  heavy  debt. 
Spasmodic  efforts  had  periodically  been  made  to  reduce  or 
remove  the  debt,  but  without  much  success.  One  of  the 
results  of  these  spasmodic  appeals  was  a  tendency  to  lessen 
regular  gifts.  It  was  evident  that  the  debt  must  be  wiped 
out  or  the  Society  crippled  and  possibly  crushed.  Judge 
Strong's  long  familiarity  with  the  Society's  work,  his  learning, 
and  his  distinguished  reputation  as  a  Justice  of  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States,  qualified  him  to  lead  the  Society 
in  a  plan  for  liquidating  this  debt  and  in  providing  adequate 
capital.  Vigorous  in  mind  and  earnest  in  purpose,  he  gave  the 
Society  the  benefit  of  his  valuable  legal  knowledge  in  com- 
pleting the  measure  which  resulted  in  the  removal  of  every 
dollar  of  indebtedness  of  the  Society,  clearing  the  Society's 
buildings,  and  providing  a  reasonably  adequate  capital  to  tide 
it  over  critical  periods  in  the  country's  finances.  He  was 
deeply  interested  in,  and  highly  valued,  its  literature  as  an 
evangelizing  agency,  and  forcibly  expressed  his  view  of  its 
great  usefulness  at  an  anniversary  held  by  his  request  in 
Washington  in  1892.  (See  Sunday-School  World,  1892,  p. 
266.) 

He  was  honored  by  three  colleges  with  the  degree  of  Doctor 
of  Laws.  He  reached  the  ripe  age  of  eighty-seven,  vigorous  in 
his  mental  faculties,  "His  eye  was  not  dimmed  nor  his  natural 
force  abated."  He  passed  to  his  reward  August  19,  1895,  hav- 
ing led  the  American  Sunday-School  Union  through  a  great 
crisis  and  successfully  inaugurated  one  of  the  most  important 
eras  in  its  history. 

1  See  Levi  Knowlea — In  Memoriam;  also  Suriday- School  World,  1898,  p.  84. 


FINANCES  347 

Alexander  Brown  (1815-1893,. 

Among  the  prominent  managers  of  the  American  Sunday- 
School  Union  in  critical  periods  of  its  history,  Alexander 
Brown  stands  easily  in  the  front  rank.  Born  near  Baltimore, 
July  13,  1815,  graduated  at  Rutger's  College,  associated  with 
his  father,  John  A.  Brown,  in  business,  he  devoted  his  life, 
aside  from  banking,  to  philanthropic  and  Christian  benevo- 
lence. He  served  the  Society  as  manager  and  was  an  active 
member  of  each  of  its  standing  committees,  being  chairman  of 
the  Committee  on  Publication  for  nearly  thirty  years  and  of  the 
Committee  on  Finance  for  twelve  years.  In  a  bustling  age  he 
ever  possessed  quiet  poise  of  judgment,  broad  wisdom,  and 
great  generosity;  giving  time  and  money  to  large  benevolent 
operations.  With  characteristic  modesty  he  firmly  declined 
the  position  of  president  of  the  Society  which  was  tendered 
him,  but  accepted  an  almost  equally  responsible,  but  less 
public  position  at  the  head  of  its  finances.  At  that  period 
the  Society  was  struggling  with  a  heavy  debt  which  had  grown 
to  such  proportions  as  to  threaten  its  life.  Under  his  direction 
the  writer  of  this  history  drew  up  a  plan  for  liquidating  the 
debt  and  providing  adequate  capital  and  funds  for  its  work. 
When  the  plan  was  perfected  and  approved  by  Mr.  Brown  and 
his  committee,  he  called  one  day  with  the  remark  that  he  had 
a  "small  contribution' '  to  start  the  plan,  and  placed  $25,000 
on  the  table  before  us.  A  little  later  he  gave  an  additional 
$15,000,  forming  the  "Raikes  Fund";  the  income  to  be  used  in 
benevolent  work.  His  wisdom,  augmented  by  his  generosity, 
marked  a  new  era  in  the  Society's  history. 

Mr.  Brown  did  not  favor  impulsive  appeals,  either  by  letter, 
telegram,  or  other  devices,  which  tended  to  secure  hasty  ac- 
tion. He  desired  to  have  every  appeal  carefully  scrutinized, 
and  approved  only  after  thoughtful  deliberation.  His  repu- 
tation, his  rare  judgment,  and  his  tact  brought  success  to  the 
Union's  financial  plans.  He  counted  it  better  to  get  a  thou- 
sand persons  to  give  $100  each,  than  to  have  one  person  give 
$100,000.  In  every  measure  he  sought  accurate  information 
and  hesitated  to  endorse  any  plan  until  it  had  the  unanimous 
support  of  the  managers  and  the  best  friends  of  the  Society. 

Mr.  Brown  also  had  a  singularly  clear  faith  and  abiding 
confidence  in  God.     Before  the  plans  for  providing  larger 


348  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

funds  for  the  Union  were  undertaken,  he  proposed  that  the 
managers  should  seek  divine  wisdom.  Following  this  sug- 
gestion, a  half-hour  preceding  each  monthly  meeting  of  the 
Board  of  Managers  was  spent  in  earnest  prayer  for  divine 
guidance  in  forming  plans  for  an  enlarged  income  for  the 
Society.  When,  after  ten  years  of  struggle  and  labor,  it  was 
announced  that  their  efforts  were  crowned  with  success  far 
beyond  the  expectations  of  any  of  the  managers,  the  great  debt 
paid  and  half  a  million  in  invested  funds  secured,  his  joy  was 
shown  by  proposing  that  they  spend  a  half -hour  again  of  their 
stated  meetings  in  devout  thanksgivings  to  Almighty  God  for 
his  signal  blessing  upon  the  American  Sunday-School  Union. 
The  estimation  in  which  he  was  held  by  his  associates  was 
voiced  by  Justice  Strong,  who  knew  him  intimately  for  many 
years,  "He  was  so  gentle,  so  unostentatious,  so  steadfast  in 
his  convictions  of  Christian  duty,  and  so  uniformly  charitable 
that  he  commanded  the  love  and  respect  of  those  who  knew 
him  well." 

Samuel  Ashhurst,  M.D. 

For  thirty  years  Dr.  Samuel  Ashhurst  was  the  faithful  ad- 
visor of  the  American  Sunday-School  Union,  as  his  father  had 
been  before  him.  Endowed  with  many  abilities  similar  to  his 
father's,  and  through  him  becoming  familiar  with  the  Society's 
history,  he  had  a  clear  conception  of  how  every  measure  had 
worked  and  of  its  results.  Hence  Dr.  Ashhurst's  counsel  was 
of  the  highest  value  when  measures  apparently  new  were  under 
consideration,  for  he  often  showed  that  what  seemed  to  other 
workers  and  managers  to  be  new  measures,  were,  in  fact,  old 
ones  that  had  already  been  tried  and  were  reappearing  under 
some  new  form  or  from  a  new  quarter.  He  was  a  man  of 
positive  convictions,  and  firm  and  courageous  in  avowing 
them.  Hearty  and  vigorous  in  support  of  reasonable  and 
progressive  measures,  he  was  strong  in  opposing  everything 
smacking  of  display  or  sham,  or  "smart  and  tricky"  ways  of 
the  world,  in  advancing  the  cause  of  religious  education.  He 
was  quick  to  detect  anything  base  or  dishonorable,  or  tending 
to  pride  or  worldly  ambition.  The  father  and  the  two  sons 
rendered  unselfish  and  invaluable  service  to  the  Society  for 
sixty-five  years,  aiding  it  in  forming  Bible  schools  in  needy 


FINANCES  349 

places  and  furnishing  evangelical  literature,  believing  that  the 
latter  was  essential  to  secure  the  permanence  of  the  schools. 

Dr.  Ashhurst  was  specially  strenuous  for  an  evangelical 
gospel.  He  wanted  every  publication  to  contain  something 
which  would  point  the  reader  to  the  way  of  salvation.  When 
exigencies  arose  he  would,  like  his  father,  often  give  hours  of  a 
busy  day  to  master  some  new  plan  under  consideration  and  to 
satisfy  himself  in  respect  to  its  probable  wisdom  and  efficiency. 
He  persuaded  his  brother,  Richard  Ashhurst,  to  become  treas- 
urer, because  of  his  familiarity  with  finance  and  business,  was 
foremost  in  urging  a  "no  debt"  policy  for  the  Society,  and  was 
exceedingly  hopeful  that  the  measure  proposed  for  paying  the 
Society's  debt  and  securing  adequate  capital  would  succeed, 
when  others  were  quite  hopeless  because  of  the  magnitude  of 
the  task.  He  proposed  the  appointment  of  an  Executive  Com- 
mittee to  formulate  and  carry  out  the  measure,  and  persuaded 
the  editor,  as  chairman  of  the  Committee,  to  undertake  this 
added  task.  The  success  of  the  plan  was,  in  no  small  way,  due 
to  Dr.  Ashhurst's  hearty  and  persevering  advocacy  of  it.  The 
sincerity  of  his  faith  was  as  transparent  as  his  convictions  were 
positive. 

The  American  Sunday-School  Union  owes  much  of  its  pres- 
ent prosperity  to  the  humble  but  wise  advice  and  earnest  sup- 
port of  friends  like  the  Ashhursts  and  Alexander  Brown,  and 
should  gratefully  keep  them  ever  green  in  its  memory. 

John  H.  Converse,  LL.D.  (1894-1910). 

John  H.  Converse  was  the  son  of  a  Congregational  minister 
of  Vermont,  and  was  born  in  Burlington,  December  2,  1840, 
graduated  at  the  University  of  Vermont  and  soon  afterward 
moved  to  Philadelphia.  He  attained  nation-wide  reputation 
by  his  varied  and  large  business  interests  as  a  man  of  affairs 
and  for  his  deep  interest  in  benevolent  and  religious  organiza- 
tions. He  supported  a  missionary  of  the  American  Sunday- 
School  Union  for  many  years  and  was  vice-president  of  the 
Society,  serving  on  the  finance  committee  for  fifteen  years, 
being  its  chairman  from  1901  to  his  death  May  3,  1910.  His 
counsel  in  the  affairs  of  the  Society  was  deliberate  and  wise, 
and  his  influence  encouraging  and  helpful  to  those  associated 
with  him.     In  his  church  he  was  a  valued  and  honored  mem- 


350  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

ber  and  officer,  his  catholic  spirit  rising  above  denominational 
limitations,  and  in  matters  of  beneficence  he  was  at  the  front 
with  open  hand  and  warm  heart,  responding  cheerfully  to  calls 
for  service  that  came  from  the  Master.  He  aided  many  young 
men  to  gain  an  education  that  better  qualified  them  for 
Christian  usefulness.  No  call  for  service  was  too  small  to 
be  accepted  and  no  summons  for  work  or  responsibility  was  so 
great  as  to  daunt  him.  His  candid  and  balanced  judgment 
made  him  efficient  and  helpful  in  every  field  of  effort  in  which 
he  became  interested.  The  wisdom  derived  from  his  rare 
business  and  financial  experience  was  freely  at  the  service  of 
the  Society  and  highly  valued  by  the  members  of  the  Union. 


SECTION  XI 

CONVENTIONS,     ASSOCIATIONS,     INSTITUTES,     ASSEMBLIES    AND 
ORGANIZED   DENOMINATIONAL   SUNDAY-SCHOOL  WORK 

Conventions  or  conferences  to  consider  questions  relating 
to  doctrines,  worship,  polity,  and  the  progress  of  religion  are 
as  old  as  Christianity.  The  first  recorded  convention  was  held 
in  Jerusalem  about  A.  D.  50,  to  adjust  certain  questions 
respecting  Gentile  disciples.  Similar  assemblies  were  held 
during  the  early  period,  up  to  the  noted  first  Council  at  Nice 
in  A.  D.  325,  which  undertook  to  clarify  the  doctrine  of  the 
divinity  or  deity  of  Christ.  Councils  or  assemblies  of  a  gen- 
eral character  were  held  for  four  or  five  centuries,  followed  by 
like  ones  in  the  Greek  and  in  the  Latin  church  and  during  the 
Reformation  era. 

Early  Conventions. — In  the  nineteen tlr  century  in  America 
conventions,  conferences,  and  commissions  became  the 
1 'fashion."  They  are  a  conspicuous  feature  in  American  life. 
Other  peoples  are  amazed  at  what  they  are  pleased  to  count 
the  American  craze  for  organization.  They  humorously  say, 
if  an  orphan  child  is  to  be  fed,  a  poor  family  to  be  provided 
with  a  bucket  of  coal,  or  a  dog  or  cat  to  be  rescued,  an  Amer- 
ican immediately  calls  a  convention  and  forms  a  society  to  do 
the  work.  This  is  a  caricature  which  our  neighbors  make  of 
us,  but  it  indicates  that  the  convention  is  a  spectacular  feature 
in  our  social  work. 

The  modern  Sunday-school  is  no  exception.  American 
Sunday-school  workers  held  local  conferences  and  conventions 
early  in  the  last  century  in  regard  to  their  work.  From  1820 
to  1825  numerous  local  conventions  were  held  in  the  Eastern 
and  Middle  States,  and  in  the  South  Atlantic  section,  either 
to  form  local  Sunday-school  unions  or  to  consider  various 
phases  in  the  conduct  of  Sunday-schools.  Thus  the  first 
recorded  state  convention  in  1824  was  held  in  New  Hampshire, 

351 


352  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

to  form  a  State  Sunday-School  Union.  This  was  followed  by- 
similar  conventions,  organizing  state  unions  in  nearly  all  the 
then  existing  states,  all  these  becoming  auxiliary  to  the  national 
society,  which  then  had  taken  the  name  of  the  American 
Sunday-School  Union. 

Preliminary  National  Sunday-School  Convention. — Confer- 
ences or  conventions  of  a  broader  type,  comprising  repre- 
sentatives from  the  auxiliary  societies  in  different  states,  were 
also  held  as  in  connection  with  the  anniversaries  of  the  Amer- 
ican Sunday-School  Union,  May,  1824,  1826,  1828  and  1830. 
Thus,  in  1826,  there  were  representatives  from  about  a  dozen 
auxiliary  societies  besides  similar  representatives  from  a 
number  of  other  schools  of  the  country,  who  took  part  in  the 
discussion  of  questions  and  voted  for  the  five  conclusions  which 
were  reached  at  that  meeting,  May,  1826. 

Again  in  1828  a  similar  conference  or  convention  was  held 
on  three  different  days,  comprising  representatives  from 
about  twenty  auxiliary  societies  and  Sunday-School  Unions  in 
different  parts  of  the  country,  who  considered  the  reports  and 
information  laid  before  them  from  the  various  sections  of  the 
country  and  recommended  an  enlargement  of  the  Union's 
operations  in  the  publishing  of  suitable  books,  the  establish- 
ment of  Sunday-schools  among  seamen  and  other  classes  of 
people,  and  also  suggested  that  the  Society  offer  premiums  for 
securing  suitable  books  along  special  lines  adapted  to  the 
Sunday-school  and,  finally,  that  the  Society  should  take  im- 
mediate measures  to  establish  or  cause  to  be  organized  Sab- 
bath-schools in  every  state  of  the  United  States  or  its  terri- 
tories where  there  is  a  sufficient  population.  Among  the  rep- 
resentatives present  at  that  convention  were  Dr.  Lyman 
Beecher,  F.  A.  Packard  of  Springfield,  Massachusetts,  Dr. 
Ezra  Fiske  of  New  York,  Dr.  Samuel  Miller  and  Robert  Baird 
of  New  Jersey,  Dr.  Robert  Cathcart  of  Pennsylvania,  Joel 
Parker  of  New  York,  Dr.  G.  T.  Bedell  of  Philadelphia,  and 
many  others  then  prominent  in  different  denominations. 

At  the  meeting  or  convention  of  representatives  in  1830, 
after  a  noted  sermon  by  Francis  Wayland  of  Brown  University, 
the  representatives  considered  the  question  of  establishing  a 
Sunday-school  in  every  destitute  place  in  the  Valley  of  the 
Mississippi,  which  was  moved  by  Thomas  McAuley,  D.  D., 


CONVENTIONS— SUNDAY-SCHOOL  WORK     353 

LL.  D.,  and  advocated  by  Dr.  Lyman  Beecher.  The  matter 
was  discussed  by  Dr.  Stephen  H.  Tyng,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Fiske, 
and  further  advocated  by  Dr.  William  A.  McDowell  of  South 
Carolina,  Dr.  James  W.  Alexander  of  New  Jersey,  and  Dr. 
Rice  of  Virginia,  and  a  number  of  prominent  laymen. 

At  these  conferences  or  conventions  the  Society  placed 
before  the  representatives  the  results  of  surveys  and  inquiries 
which  had  been  repeatedly  made  by  their  auxiliaries,  and  con- 
ditions reported  in  response  to  forty-two  interrogatories  sent 
out  inquiring  into  the  religious  condition  of  the  communities 
and  churches  in  different  sections  of  the  country. 

A  convention  of  a  different  type  was  inaugurated  by  the 
managers  of  the  American  Sunday-School  Union  in  1832.  At 
a  stated  meeting  of  the  Society  held  April  10,  1832,  a  national 
Sunday-school  convention  was  proposed  and  definitely  recom- 
mended in  the  following  terms: 

In  view  of  the  signal  tokens  of  God's  favor  toward  the  Sunday- 
school  [institution]  in  the  United  States,  especially  during  the 
last  year;  and  considering  the  importance  of  reducing  to  some 
simple  and  general  principles  a  system  of  religious  education 
so  necessary — so  well  fitted  to  the  character  and  institutions 
of  our  country,  [and]  promising  such  vast  results;  considering, 
also,  the  advantages  which  flow  from  mutual  confidence  and 
sympathy,  and  how  much  this  confidence  and  sympathy  are 
increased  by  a  personal  interchange  of  feelings  and  views; 

Resolved,  That  it  be  recommended  to  the  superintendents 
and  teachers  of  Sunday-schools  in  the  United  States  to  convene 
at  some  suitable  time  and  place  for  the  purpose  of  considering 
the  principles  of  the  institution;  the  duties  and  obligations 
which  attach  to  the  several  officers  of  Sunday-schools;  the  best 
plans  of  organizing,  instructing  and  managing  a  Sunday-school 
in  its  various  departments,  and  such  other  topics  as  may  per- 
tain to  the  general  objects  of  the  convention; 

Resolved,  That  it  be  further  recommended  to  the  superin- 
tendents and  teachers  of  auxiliary  Sunday-schools,  from  differ- 
ent parts  of  the  country,  who  can  make  it  convenient,  to  hold 
a  meeting  in  Philadelphia,  on  the  23d  day  of  May  next  (the  day 
succeeding  the  approaching  anniversary  of  the  American 
Sunday-School  Union),  for  the  purpose  of  considering  the  fore- 
going resolution;  and  if  approved,  that  such  measures  be  taken 
as  shall  be  deemed  necessary  respecting  time,  place  and  arrange- 
ments (for  the  proposed  convention)  to  secure  the  accomplish- 
ment of  the  desired  object. 

In  taking  this  action,  the  managers  not  only  suggested  the 
time  and  place  of  meeting,  but  also  indicated  the  kind  of  as- 


354  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

sembly  which  should  be  brought  together  to  consider  these 
questions. 

"It  is  desirable,"  they  said,  "that  all  who  are  actually  engaged 
as  superintendents,  teachers,  or  active  officers  of  Sunday- 
schools  should  attend  the  proposed  preliminary  meeting,  and 
such  only  are  invited." 

The  purpose  of  the  meeting  was  definitely  set  forth  in 
The  Sunday-School  Journal  of  the  Union,  May  9,  1832: 

It  is  obvious  that  at  present  there  is  no  definite  system  of 
organizing  and  instructing  Sunday-schools.  Hundreds  of  thou- 
sands are  engaged  in  them  as  teachers  or  pupils,  and  it  is  pre- 
sumed that  there  are  not  two  schools  among  the  whole  which 
are  taught  or  superintended  alike.  Some  have  one  superin- 
tendent and  some  two,  or  more.  Some  are  attended  in  the 
morning,  some  during  the  interval  between  morning  and  after- 
noon service,  some  in  the  afternoon,  and  some  in  the  evening. 
The  time  of  instruction  varies  from  one  to  five  hours.  Some 
schools  are  opened  with  prayer,  singing  and  reading  the  Scrip- 
tures; others  with  two  of  these  exercises,  and  others  with  only 
one.  The  character,  size,  etc.,  of  Sunday-school  books  and  the 
manner  of  distributing  them  are  almost  as  various  as  the  features 
of  the  human  face.  The  discipline  of  a  school;  the  form,  order, 
and  arrangement  of  classes;  the  order  of  business;  the  subjects 
and  modes  of  instruction;  the  duties  of  teachers  in  school  and 
out  of  school;  the  use,  place,  and  organization  of  adult,  infant 
and  Bible  classes;  the  disposal  of  children  during  church  service 
— these  and  a  multitude  of  topics  which  need  not  be  particu- 
larly suggested,  and  which  probably  have  often  occupied  the 
thoughts  of  reflecting  teachers,  are  to  be  considered  by  the 
convention.  And  the  proposed  meeting  on  the  23d  inst.  is 
called  to  consider:  1.  The  expediency  of  holding  such  a  con- 
vention. 2.  Where  and  when  it  shall  be  held.  3.  What  subjects 
shall  be  presented  for  its  consideration.  4.  How  shall  they  be 
presented. 

A  general  attendance  of  teachers  and  superintendents  from 
various  sections  of  the  country  is  very  desirable. 

The  plan  for  the  meeting  was  also  clearly  outlined : 

There  should  be  a  simple,  intelligent  and  well-adjusted  plan 
capable  of  all  necessary  modifications  to  suit  various  circum- 
stances, but  in  its  main  principles  fixed  and  settled. 

Such  a  plan  should  be  formed  after  a  full  investigation  of 
the  history  of  Sunday-schools,  a  diligent  study  of  the  lessons  of 
experience  which  are  furnished  by  those  engaged  in  them,  and 
an  accurate  survey  of  their  present  character  and  prospects. 

The  proposed  convention  is  designed  to  afford  such  advantages 
for  devising  some  general  system  of  proceeding  not  TOUCHING 
IN  ANY  POINT  THE  RIGHTS  OR  PRIVILEGES  OF  ANY 
SCHOOL,  NOR  THE  THINGS  TO  BE  TAUGHT,  but  simply 


CONVENTIONS— SUNDAY-SCHOOL  WORK     355 

the  external  organization,  and  such  circumstances  depending  on 
this  as  may  be  thought  susceptible  of  general  regulation;  and 
here  there  can  be  no  design  to  dictate  or  control,  but  to  recom- 
mend and  suggest. 

The  course  now  proposed  for  the  teachers  of  Sunday-schools 
has  been  adopted  some  time  since  by  common  school  teachers, 
and  with  a  promise  of  very  useful  results.  We  hope  it  will  be 
fairly  tried,_and  we  have  no  doubt  it  will  promise  as  much  for  us. 

Called  by  American  Sunday-School  Union. — In  response  to 
this  call  of  the  American  Sunday-School  Union,  a  preliminary 
meeting  of  teachers  and  superintendents  was  held  in  Phila- 
delphia May  23,  1832.  It  was  attended  by  superintendents, 
teachers  and  delegates  from  Sunday-schools  from  thirteen 
states  of  the  then  twenty-four  states,  and  two  of  the  four 
territories,  and  enrolled  ninety-one  members.  Only  those  who 
were  enrolled  as  members  took  part  in  the  discussions.  The 
plans  proposed  for  the  first  National  Sunday-school  Conven- 
tion were  carefully  completed  and,  after  prolonged  delibera- 
tion, it  was  decided  to  recommend 

to  the  superintendents  and  teachers  of  Sunday-schools  in  the 
United  States  to  convene  at  some  suitable  time  and  place  for  the 
purpose  of  considering  the  principles  of  the  Sunday-school  in- 
stitution; the  duties  and  obligations  which  attach  to  the  several 
officers  of  Sunday-schools;  the  best  plans  of  organizing,  instruct- 
ing, and  managing  a  Sunday-school  in  its  various  departments, 
and  such  other  topics  as  may  pertain  to  the  general  objects 
of  the  convention.  Also,  That  a  series  of  interrogatories  be 
prepared,  embracing  topics  connected  with  the  subjects  speci- 
fied in  the  foregoing  resolution  which  shall  be  circulated  as  ex- 
tensively as  possible  among  the  superintendents,  teachers  and 
other  friends  of  Sunday-schools  in  the  United  States  or  else- 
where; and  that  a  committee  of  five  be  appointed  to  receive 
replies  to  the  same,  and  condense  the  information,  to  be  used  in 
such  manner  as  shall  be  directed  by  this  meeting. 

Several  places  were  proposed  for  holding  the  convention, 
but  after  much  discussion  it  was  decided  to  call  it  in  the  city 
of  New  York,  "on  the  first  Wednesday  in  October  next" 
(October  3,  1832). 

The  mode  of  representation  was  also  considered,  and  after 
some  discussion  it  was  unanimously  agreed  that 

Every  Sunday-school  union  or  association,  or  any  associa- 
tion that  may  be  formed  for  that  purpose,  shall  be  entitled  to 
be  represented  by  one  or  more  delegates  at  the  proposed  con- 
vention, the  number  and  mode  of  appointment  being  referred  to 


356  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

said  unions  and  associations  respectively;  and  that  every  Sunday- 
school  not  connected  with  any  union  or  association  shall  be  en- 
titled to  be  represented  by  one  delegate  in  said  convention,  the 
delegates  in  every  case  to  be  superintendents,  teachers,  con- 
ductors, or  otherwise  actually  engaged  in  Sunday-schools;  pro- 
vided, however,  that  in  every  case  where  the  schools  connected 
with  a  union  or  association  prefer  to  be  represented  independ- 
ently and  shall  elect  delegates  accordingly,  such  schools  shall  be 
entitled  to  be  represented  by  one  delegate  each,  as  aforesaid. 
For  the  Call  and  Seventy-eight  Interrogatories,  see  Appendix, 
pp.  469-474. 

The  mode  of  representation  in  the  convention  of  1832-33 
was  identical,  but  at  the  convention  in  1859  this  was  changed, 
so  that,  "each  evangelical  Sunday-school  in  the  Union  [or 
nation]  is  invited  to  send  at  least  one  delegate;  and  ministerial 
brethren  are  affectionately  invited  to  share  in  the  deliberations 
and  exercises  of  the  convention." 

In  suggesting  the  convention  of  1832,  the  managers  of  the 
American  Sunday-School  Union  sought  to  secure  the  widest 
experience  and  the  freest  expression  of  opinion  from  all  classes 
of  Sunday-school  workers.  Moreover,  they  desired  to  have  it 
entirely  free  from  that  professional  air  which  it  might  seem  to 
have  in  the  eyes  of  some  people  if  it  were  controlled  in  any 
manner  by  officers  of  even  a  national  organization.  There- 
fore, while  proposing  the  national  convention,  they  aimed  to 
keep  it  entirely  free  from  official  or  any  other  connection  with 
the  Society,  though  they  themselves,  as  individuals,  had  a  deep 
interest  in  its  proceedings  and  in  its  results,  and  as  they  say  in 
The  Sunday-School  Journal  they  anticipated  great  good  from 
it  and  hoped  to  share  the  benefit  with  the  multitude  of  the 
brethren  from  all  sections  of  the  country.1 

It  is  noteworthy  that  a  majority  of  the  leaders  and  active 
members  in  that  first  convention  were  in  one  way  or  another 
connected  with  the  American  Sunday-School  Union,  their  rela- 
tions to  both  the  Union  and  the  convention  being  as  individuals 
and  as  workers  in  Sunday-schools. 

First  National  Sunday-School  Convention. — The  first  Na- 
tional Sunday-School  Convention  met  at  New  York  Octo- 
ber 3,  1832,  attended  by  about  220  delegates,  among  whom 
were  leading  laymen  and  clergymen,  representing  organiza- 
tions in  fourteen  states  and  territories  out  of  the  twenty-four 

I  The  Sunday-School  Journal,  1832,  pp.  78  and  155. 


CONVENTIONS— SUNDAY-SCHOOL  WORK     357 

states  and  four  territories  then  in  the  United  States.1  In  view 
of  the  limited  facilities  for  traveling  (there  were  less  than  300 
miles  of  railway  in  the  country)  and  of  the  scourge  of  Asiatic 
cholera  that  visited  New  York  and  other  cities  that  year,  this 
was  a  large  attendance. 

Hon.  Theodore  Frelinghuysen  was  elected  president,  William 
A.  Tomlinson  and  Gen.  William  Williams  vice-presidents,  and 
Dr.  D.  M.  Reese  and  James  B.  Brinsmade  secretaries.  The 
Committee  on  Interrogatories  prepared  a  carefully  digested 
series  of  seventy-eight  questions,  grouped  under  thirteen  gen- 
eral heads,  intended  to  cover  the  field  of  Sunday-school  activ- 
ities as  then  pursued.  Three  thousand  of  these  "Question- 
naires" were  printed,  with  a  circular  explaining  them,  and  re- 
questing replies.  They  were  printed  on  eight  pages,  full-sized 
letter  paper,  spaces  being  left  for  answers  to  each  question. 
The  circular  was  signed  by  John  Hall,  then  one  of  the  editorial 
secretaries  of  the  American  Sunday-School  Union.  These 
circulars  were  sent  out  to  schools  and  persons  in  all  parts  of  the 
United  States. 

Answers  were  received  from  142  unions  and  schools  (only 
138  at  the  convention)  and  from  twenty  states.  The  answers 
were  referred  to  a  committee  of  five  (four  only  serving,  namely, 
Joseph  H.  Dulles,  F.  W.  Porter,  John  Wiegand,  and  John  Hall), 
who  were  to  collate  these  answers  and  present  a  report  to  the 
convention.  The  committee  collated  the  information  under 
topics,  and  their  report  fills  five  closely  printed  20-inch  long 
columns  in  The  Sunday-School  Journal  of  the  Union,  and  ex- 
tracts from  142  replies  were  afterward  published  week  by  week, 
filling  twenty  more  columns  in  the  same  Journal  for  1832  and 
1833.  These  original  replies  in  manuscript  were  gathered  into 
a  quarto  volume  of  about  1,150  pages  and  are  preserved  in  the 
archives  of  the  American  Sunday-School  Union. 

In  explanation  of  the  character  of  their  report  on  these  in- 
terrogatories the  committee  say,  repeating  the  assertion  made 
in  the  commencement  that  no  analysis  of  the  contents  of  the 
returns  to  the  circulars  can  do  justice  to  their  value,  they  would 
again  express  the  hope  that  some  means  may  be  taken  to  pre- 
serve them  in  a  form  in  which  they  may  be  universally  acces- 
sible.   With  respect  to  the  great  objects  before  this  body,  they 

1  It  is  significant  that  the  number  of  states  represented  was  only  one  more  than  were 
represented  at  the  preliminary  convention. 


358  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

would  adopt  the  suggestion  of  an  able  superintendent  in  refer- 
ence to  our  meeting: 

We  must  not  forget  the  great  variety  of  circumstances  that 
prevail  in  our  schools.  What  is  most  suitable  in  one  place, 
would  be  improper  in  another.  Teachers  become  discon- 
tented when  they  find  their  schools  not  exactly  modeled  as  some 
others  which  are  recommended.  One  grand  object  of  the  sys- 
tem should  be  to  adapt  it  as  far  as  possible  to  all  circumstances 
and  all  situations.  This  cannot  be  done  if  a  precise  system  is 
insisted  on  or  too  strenuously  urged.1 

This  committee  with  their  digest  of  the  answers  presented  to 
the  convention,  recommended  the  following  topics  for  con- 
sideration : 

(1)  Frequency  and  length  of  sessions  of  Sunday-schools; 
(2)  Importance,  modes  and  results  of  visiting;  (3)  Teachers' 
prayer  meetings;  (4)  Teachers'  preparations  for  the  duties  of  the 
school;  (5)  Training  scholars  to  become  teachers  and  methods  of 
doing  it;  (6)  Influence  of  personal  habits  of  teachers  on  the 
scholars;  (7)  Influence  of  the  superintendent  on  the  character 
and  prosperity  of  the  school.  A  special  report  on  modes  of 
instruction  was  made  by  James  W.  Weir,  and  widely  circulated 
as  a  tract  for  teachers. 

Some  of  these  topics  would  now  be  regarded  as  unimportant, 
yet  at  that  time  they  created  much  excitement,  as  these  among 
others : 

Should  a  publishing  society  take  a  copyright  for  a  book  or  a 
publication? — it  being  thought  that  such  copyright  would 
limit  its  circulation  and  usefulness.  Attention  was  also  directed 
to  a  declaration  that  "after  fifty  years  Sunday-schools  are 
mostly  carried  on  independent  of  the  church."  Large  place 
was  given  to  exploiting  a  monthly  concert  of  prayer  for  Sunday- 
schools  as  an  evangelizing  agency.  Some  schools,  it  was  said, 
had  sessions  of  from  four  to  six  hours  in  length,  and  it  was  sug- 
gested that  no  session  should  exceed  two  hours  without  inter- 
mission. Other  themes  were  considered  similar  to  those  which 
have  engaged  Sunday-school  thinkers  for  two  generations  since. 
Thus  this  First  National  Convention  discussed  the  value  of 
uniform  Bible  classes  for  the  whole  land,  and  it  was  declared 
that  the  world  should  be  regarded  as  a  series  of  Sunday-schools. 
Nor  did  the  convention  overlook  the  peculiar  nomenclature 
or  terms  in  use.  It  proposed  that  the  word  "pupils"  displace 
the  word  "children"  in  all  reports  of  the  convention  where 
practicable.  They  advised  a  careful  classification  of  scholars, 
from  the  youngest  in  the  infant  department  in  a  room  by  them- 
selves, to  a  normal  class  having  advanced  lessons  in  Scriptures 
>  The  Sundau-School  Journal,  October  10,  1832. 


CONVENTIONS— SUNDAY-SCHOOL  WORK     359 

and  receiving  instruction  upon  evidences  of  religion,   sacred 
geography,  biblical  antiquities,  and  the  like. 

The  value  of  study  classes  in  methods  of  instruction,  to  train 
scholars  to  become  teachers,  the  formation  of  teachers'  libraries, 
the  systematic  visitation  of  parishes  to  interest  parents,  im- 
provement in  schoolroom  furniture,  better  ventilation  of  rooms, 
reviews  of  lessons  by  the  whole  school — sometimes  by  the 
pastor  and  before  the  whole  congregation,  systematic  giving, 
weekly  meetings  of  teachers  for  study,  and  teachers'  prayer 
meeting  before  school  sessions  and  children's  week-day  prayer 
meetings,  improved  methods  of  conducting  the  general  exercises 
of  the  school,  plans  for  advanced  Sunday-school  institutes,  and 
many  other  similar  topics  were  considered  by  this  first  conven- 
tion, indicating  that  the  members  were  progressive  workers  and 
thinkers — far  in  advance  of  their  day. 

So  important  and  varied  were  the  topics  before  this  con- 
vention that  many  of  them  were  not  sufficiently  discussed  to 
reach  a  conclusion,  and  others  were  barely  mentioned.  In- 
deed, the  delegates  at  the  convention  very  early  in  their  ses- 
sions declared  that  it  would  be  impossible  to  conclude  the  work 
they  had  in  hand  at  that  convention,  and  at  once  proposed  to 
have  another  national  convention  in  Philadelphia. 

The  committee  on  interrogatories  recommended  that  spe- 
cial committees  be  appointed  to  report  in  full  upon  many  of 
the  subjects  named  to  a  future  convention.  So  general  was 
the  impression  upon  the  importance  of  a  more  careful  and  pro- 
longed consideration  of  these  topics  that  it  was  resolved  to 
call  another  convention  to  meet  in  Philadelphia  May  22,  1833, 
the  representation  to  be  the  same  as  already  established  for 
this  convention,  and  the  committee  on  interrogatories  to  make 
arrangements  for  it,  collecting  further  information  and  pre- 
paring the  business  to  come  before  the  convention.  Finally, 
at  the  suggestion  of  this  committee,  nine  special  committees 
were  appointed  to  prepare  reports  on  as  many  different  phases 
of  the  Sunday-school  work  to  come  before  the  Philadelphia 
convention.  The  various  reports  and  suggestions  of  the  com- 
mittees made  to  this  first  convention  were  printed  in  The 
Sunday-School  Journal  of  the  Union  in  successive  weekly  is- 
sues, and  formed  the  basis  for  the  discussion  of  the  various 
topics  at  the  next  year's  meeting. 

Second  National  Convention. — The  second  national  con- 
vention met  in  the  Cherry  Street  lecture  room,  Philadelphia, 
May  22,  1833.     Hon.  Willard  Hall  of  Delaware  was  president, 


360  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

Matthew  L.  Bevan  of  Pennsylvania  and  Gerrit  Smith  of  New 
York  vice-presidents,  and  Louis  G.  C.  Elmer  of  New  Jersey  and 
M.  B.  Denman  of  Pennsylvania  secretaries.  This  convention 
was  not  as  largely  attended  by  delegates  from  various  schools, 
societies  and  unions  as  the  first  one,  though  there  were  dele- 
gates from  nine  states,  of  whom  it  was  said,  "Among  the 
members  were  some  of  the  most  distinguished  and  enlightened 
friends  of  Sunday-schools  which  our  country  furnishes."  L 
At  this  distance,  it  seems  to  us  rash  to  have  called  a  second 
national  convention  within  eight  months  after  the  first,  par- 
ticularly when  we  consider  the  limitations  of  transportation  and 
travel  in  those  days.  But  evidently  the  pressure  was  strong 
to  thresh  out  the  important  questions  which  had  been  raised 
at  the  first  meeting,  and  which  were  placed  in  the  hands  of  the 
special  and  regular  committees — about  fifteen  in  all — who  were 
to  prepare  and  submit  papers  or  reports  upon  as  many  impor- 
tant phases  of  Sunday-school  work  of  that  day. 

Each  of  these  committees  consisted  of  five  and  sometimes 
six  workers,  who  had  gained  more  than  a  local  reputation. 
They  were  given  time  to  study  conditions,  gather  and  arrange 
facts,  and  agree  upon  some  recommendation  or  deliverance 
on  the  respective  subjects  under  consideration.  Among  the 
questions  referred  to  them  by  the  New  York  Convention  were 
the  following: 

(1)  Infant  schools;  (2)  organization  and  discipline  of  schools; 
(3)  plans  of  instruction;  (4)  libraries;  (5)  best  means  of  qualify- 
ing scholars  for  teachers;  (6)  establishing  schools  in  prisons  and 
almshouses;  (7)  teachers'  meetings;  (8)  temperance  societies 
and  Sunday-schools;  (9)  duties  of  superintendents  and  teachers. 

Papers  were  also  read  from  committees  on  other  subjects,  as 
(1)  private  Sunday-schools,  meaning  schools  sustained  by  persons 
in  private  houses,  (2)  on  interesting  ministers  and  officers  of 
the  church  in  Sunday-schools,  (3)  on  organizing  missionary  and 
other  benevolent  societies  in  the  schools.  These  papers  reveal  a 
breadth  of  experience  and  a  careful  study  of  conditions.  They 
were  comprehensive  and  explicit,  evidently  not  exploiting  vision- 
ary theories,  but  based  on  a  profound  practical  experience.  The 
papers  occupied  about  fourteen  columns  in  The  Sunday-School 
Journal  for  1833. 

Among  important  measures  commended  was  a  proposition 
to  make  a  general  simultaneous  effort  on  the  ' 'Fourth  of  July 

1  The  Sunday-School  Journal,  June  5,  1833. 


CONVENTIONS— SUNDAY-SCHOOL  WORK     361 

next  to  invite  all  persons  to  attend  some  place  of  Bible  instruc- 
tion." This  proposition  was  suggested  by  the  managers  of 
the  American  Sunday-School  Union  for  reasons  which  they 
stated  thus: 

The  inquiry  is  natural,  why  the  influence  of  such  an  associa- 
tion, or  of  the  Sunday-school  institution  generally,  instead  of  ex- 
erting a  very  partial  influence  over  600,000  or  800,000  children 
between  five  and  fifteen  years  of  age,  does  not  extend  its  benefits 
over  the  entire  population  of  the  country  and  the  world,  in 
forms  suited  to  the  various  circumstances  of  the  inhabitants. 
The  true  answer  is,  It  has  never  been  attempted. 

So  far  as  our  own  country  is  concerned,  there  has  never  yet 
been  a  general  simultaneous  effort  to  ascertain  to  what  extent 
subjects  of  Sunday-school  instruction  can  be  collected.  It  is 
high  time  such  an  effort  was  made;  and  as  some  particular  day 
must  be  assigned  for  the  purpose,  in  order  that  it  may  be  simul- 
taneous, .  .  .  the  Fourth  of  July  next  is  proposed. 

The  resolution  was  first  presented  at  the  Anniversary  of  the 
American  Sunday-School  Union  May  21,  1833,  by  Gerrit 
Smith,  Esq.,  of  New  York,  thus: 

That  the  proposed  general  simultaneous  effort  on  the  fourth 
day  of  July  next,  to  visit  and  invite  all  suitable  subjects  of 
Sunday-school  instruction  to  attend  at  some  appointed  place 
on  the  succeeding  Sunday  (July  7th)  be  commended  to  the  min- 
isters of  the  gospel,  and  the  superintendents,  teachers,  and 
other  officers  and  friends  of  Sunday-schools,  and  Sunday-school 
societies  of  every  denomination,  for  prompt  and  complete 
execution. 

The  convention,  in  approving  this  proposition,  recommended 
officers  and  friends  of  Sunday-schools  "to  district  the  territory 
which  it  belongs  to  them  to  explore,  and  to  assign  to  each  in- 
dividual his  or  her  section;  and  that  a  report  of  the  result  of 
each  person's  labor  be  made  to  the  proper  officers,  and  by  them 
to  some  union  or  other  association,  so  that  the  information  may 
reach  the  various  Sunday-schools  as  soon  as  practicable." 
This,  in  fact,  was  the  germ  of  the  modern  systematic  plan  of 
house-to-house  visitation,  clearly  conceived  and  defined  in  the 
last  century. 

The  recommendation  upon  private  Sunday-schools;  that  is, 
schools  under  the  direction  and  at  the  expense  of  private  in- 
dividuals in  their  own  homes,  was  discussed  and  reported  upon 
at  length,  and  their  advantages  urged  as  follows : 


362  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

(1)  Wild  and  wandering  children  are  more  willing  to  enter  a 
room  which  has  not  the  appearance  of  formality  and  display. 
There  is  nothing  appalling  in  a  small  apartment  and  there  is 
more  in  the  circumstance  to  attach  them  to  their  instructors. 

(2)  There  are  no  prejudices  on  the  part  of  parents  against 
any  particular  sect  to  encounter.  It  is  an  individual  enterprise, 
coming  necessarily  under  no  denomination. 

(3)  These  are  not  confined  exclusively  to  the  destitute. 

(4)  There  is  a  favorable  opportunity  for  the  united  opera- 
tions of  Christians  of  different  denominations. 

(5)  Opportunity  is  afforded  for  private  Christians  to  conse- 
crate their  houses  to  God. 

(6)  It  gives  an  opportunity  to  every  Christian  to  become  a 
working  Christian. 

These  two  early  national  conventions  did  not  wholly  meet 
the  expectations  of  the  workers  of  that  day.  The  Sunday- 
School  Journal  voiced  public  sentiment  on  the  first  conven- 
tion thus: 

We  have  been  somewhat  disappointed  in  the  results  of  this 
meeting.  Our  expectation  was  that  the  convention  would  adopt 
some  active  measures,  the  influence  of  which  would  at  once  have 
been  felt  in  all  the  schools.1  The  distribution  of  thousands  of 
copies  of  the  Interrogatories  adopted  has,  of  itself,  had  a  bene- 
ficial effect.  The  attention  of  teachers  has  been  drawn  to  sub- 
jects which  had  not  before  engaged  their  thought.  ...  In 
several  places  the  teachers  of  a  school,  or  of  several  schools 
united  for  the  purpose,  have  met  to  discuss  the  questions  and  to 
propose  replies,  and  they  acknowledge  the  advantage  of  the 
employment.2 

Again,  referring  to  the  " three  Sunday-school  conventions" 
(the  Journal  counted  the  preliminary  meeting,  May,  1832,  as 
one),  it  concludes  its  own  and  the  public  opinion  of  the  meet- 
ings thus: 

Few  questions  of  practical  interest  are  likely  to  come  up  at 
any  time  which  have  not  been  considered  with  more  or  less 
particularity  at  one  or  more  of  these  conventions.  So  com- 
pletely is  the  object  of  the  convention  already  accomplished 
that  no  question  of  education  in  this  country  or  any  other 
presents  a  like  degree  of  order,  uniformity,  and  consistency  of 
principles,  and  the  application  of  them,  as  the  investigation 
just  closed  shows  the  Sunday-school  system  to  possess.3 

It  is  evident  that  the  chief  thought  and  discussions  were  con- 
cent rated  upon  the  fundamental  purposes  of  the  institution. 

i  The  Sunrimj-School  Journal,  October  17,  1832. 
•  Ibid.,  October  8,  L832. 
3  Ibid.,  June  5,  1833. 


CONVENTIONS— SUNDAY-SCHOOL  WORK     363 

In  the  application  of  principles,  the  widest  scope  and  the  larg- 
est freedom  of  method  were  allowed.  New  conditions  con- 
stantly springing  up  among  the  rapidly  developing  American 
peoples  could  not  be  anticipated.  The  questions  they  raised 
would  best  be  solved  by  further  experience 

State  Unions  and  Conventions. — The  conventions  of  1832 
and  1833  threshed  out  fundamental  questions  relating  to  the 
organization  and  conduct  of  Sunday-schools,  and  did  it  so 
thoroughly  and  so  much  in  advance  of  their  age  that  no  desire 
for  a  subsequent  gathering  of  this  kind  came  into  prominence 
for  twenty-seven  years.  Meanwhile  all  the  states  had  Sunday- 
school  unions,  holding  annual  or  other  conventions  to  con- 
sider their  local  interests  in  biblical  instruction;  these  unions 
being  generally  auxiliary  to  the  national  Society,  the  American 
Sunday-School  Union.  They  were  largely  fostered  by  the 
latter  Union  in  the  hope  that  they  would  be  efficient  in  pro- 
moting the  extension  of  Sunday-schools  and  the  improvement 
of  the  same  throughout  the  country,  thus  relieving  the  national 
Society  in  some  measure  of  the  employment  of  so  many  Sun- 
day-school missionaries.  This  expectation  was  not  realized. 
The  national  Society  found  these  state  unions,  though  often 
well  organized,  a  heavy  drain  upon  the  treasury  for  administra- 
tive and  other  expenses,  much  of  their  energy  being  exhausted 
in  machinery,  leaving  little  force  for  really  effective  field  work. 
The  interest  in  them,  therefore,  languished. 

Sunday-school  workers  in  these  various  states  had  dis- 
covered, however,  the  benefits  of  getting  together  and  com- 
paring their  various  methods,  and  soon  longed  for  something 
similar,  which  resulted  in  the  calling  of  voluntary  state  con- 
ventions at  irregular  intervals.  These  conventions  at  first  had 
no  close  relation  one  to  the  other.  In  1846  a  Sunday-school 
convention  met  in  the  territory  of  Wisconsin,  largely  due  to  the 
influence  of  J.  W.  Vail,  an  agent  of  the  American  Sunday- 
School  Union,  supported  by  William  H.  Byron,  a  member  of 
the  first  National  Convention  of  1832.  Conventions  were  also 
held  in  that  territory  after  it  became  a  state,  but  at  irregular 
intervals,  being  twice  revived  by  the  agents  and  missionaries  of 
the  national  Society.  A  similar  convention  was  held  in  1855 
in  Massachusetts,  and  a  year  or  so  later  in  New  York  and  Con- 
necticut, these  conventions  being  very  similar  in  their  volun- 


364  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

tary  character  and  structure,  and  meeting  chiefly  for  inspira- 
tion and  diffusion  of  information. 

Interdenominational  Convention. — The  nation-wide  religious 
revival  of  1857  gave  a  new  impetus  to  the  Sunday-school  conven- 
tion movement.  The  workers  in  New  York,  such  as  R.  G.  Pardee, 
Lucius  Hart,  Albert  Woodruff,  Ralph  Wells,  and  A.  A.  Smith, 
suggested  the  calling  of  a  national  convention  of  Sunday- 
school  teachers  at  Philadelphia  under  the  supposition  that  they 
had  a  new  idea  and  that  no  such  gathering  had  ever  before 
been  held.  The  call  was  issued  by  Drs.  Thomas  Brainerd, 
Richard  Newton,  W.  T.  Brantley,  W.  J.  R.  Taylor,  and  by 
Messrs.  George  H.  Stuart,  Jay  Cooke,  John  S.  Hart,  Matthew 
W.  Baldwin,  and  Abraham  Martin,  for  a  convention  to 
be  held  in  Philadelphia,  February  22,  1859,  requesting  each 
evangelical  Sabbath-school  in  the  union  to  send  at  least  one 
delegate.  The  clergymen  of  the  schools  or  churches  were  in- 
cluded in  the  call  in  view  of  their  office  and  work. 

John  S.  Hart,  LL.  D.,  editor  of  The  Sunday-School  Times, 
then  published  by  the  American  Sunday-School  Union,  was 
temporary  chairman  of  the  convention.  Ex-Governor  James 
Pollock  of  Pennsylvania  was  chosen  president,  and  H.  Clay 
Trumbull  of  Connecticut  and  George  Baughman  of  Virginia 
were  secretaries.  On  the  Committee  on  Arrangements  were 
Louis  Chapin,  Nelson  Kingsbury  and  James  W.  Weir.  Nearly 
all  these  persons  were  officers  or  workers  connected  with  the 
American  Sunday-School  Union.  Among  the  representatives 
at  this  convention  were  several  who  were  prominent  in  the 
previous  conventions  twenty-seven  years  before,  as  Amos 
Tappan  of  Massachusetts,  Jeremiah  H.  Taylor  of  Connecticut, 
James  W.  Weir  of  Pennsylvania,  and  William  H.  Campbell 
from  Washington.  Scotland  was  represented  by  Peter  Sin- 
clair. It  was  noteworthy  that  Mr.  Weir,  who  was  prominent 
in  the  first  and  second  conventions,  drafted  the  resolutions 
which  were  adopted  as  the  platform  of  the  third  convention. 
In  fact,  the  chief  aim  and  effect  of  this  convention  was  in- 
spiration rather  than  instruction. 

The  discussions  and  proceedings  of  the  convention  were  re- 
ported by  I.  Newton  Baker,  then  assistant  to  Editor  Hart,  and 
were  published  in  The  Sunday-School  Times  then  issued  by  the 
American  Sunday-School  Union.     Mr.  Baker  had  shown  him- 


CONVENTIONS— SUNDAY-SCHOOL  WORK     365 

self  a  skilled  and  successful  reporter,  and  afterward  proved  to 
be  an  able  and  influential  Sunday-school  editor. 

Ten  years  elapsed  before  another  national  convention  was 
called.  The  delay  was  due  to  the  turbulent  condition  of  the 
country  from  the  Civil  War  of  1861  to  1865.  The  war  had 
wrought  so  many  changes  that  in  a  great  measure  the  re- 
membrance of  the  convention  of  1859  passed  out  of  the  minds 
of  a  large  portion  of  the  Sunday-school  workers  of  the  country. 
A  few  workers  in  attendance  at  a  convention  of  Young  Men's 
Christian  Associations  in  Detroit,  Michigan,  decided  to  call 
a  Sunday-school  convention  of  two  delegates  from  each  con- 
gressional district  in  the  United  States  and  twenty-five  dele- 
gates from  Canada.  They  soon  learned  that  a  committee  ap- 
pointed by  the  convention  of  ten  years  previous  was  in  exist- 
ence, which  they  do  not  appear  to  have  known  before,  and  the 
two  committees  finally  issued  a  call  for  another  national 
convention  to  be  held  in  Newark,  New  Jersey,  April  28,  1869. 

This  convention  was  attended  by  526  delegates,  from  twenty- 
eight  states  and  one  territory,  besides  some  representatives 
from  Canada,  England,  Ireland,  Scotland,  Egypt,  and  South 
Africa.  But  seven-tenths  of  these  delegates  were  from  the 
immediate  vicinity  of  New  York  and  New  Jersey,  while 
eighteen  of  the  twenty-eight  states  represented  had  only 
twenty-five  delegates  present.  Much  enthusiasm  was  created 
by  the  crowded  houses  and  the  stirring  speeches,  and  informa- 
tion was  diffused  through  the  consulting  of  representative 
workers  in  "six  sections,"  meeting  in  different  churches  to 
consider  various  departments  of  Sunday-school  work;  the  chief 
subject  was  the  promotion  of  teacher  training  through  insti- 
tutes and  normal  classes.  The  convention  disapproved  of  the 
idea  that  the  Sunday-school  was  in  any  sense  a  substitute  for 
family  or  pulpit  instruction,  or  that  it  was  to  be  regarded  as 
independent  of  the  church. 

The  president  was  George  H.  Stuart,  and  the  secretaries, 
H.  Clay  Trumbull,  John  H.  Vincent,  and  B.  F.  Jacobs,  while 
the  chairman  of  the  Executive  Committee  was  Edward  Eggles- 
ton  of  Illinois. 

The  fifth  National  Convention  met  at  Indianapolis,  April 
16,  1872,  attended  by  254  delegates  from  twenty-two  states 
and  one  territory,  and  eighty- four  visiting  representatives  from 


366  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

Canada,  Great  Britain  and  elsewhere.  Philip  G.  Gillett,  of 
Illinois,  was  president,  and  Rev.  George  A.  Peltz,  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, secretary. 

This  marked  an  important  event  in  the  history  of  Sunday- 
schools — the  adoption  of  a  system  of  uniform  lessons  and  the 
appointment  of  a  lesson  committee  to  make  the  selections  for 
the  following  seven  years.1 

First  International  Convention. — The  sixth  National  be- 
came the  first  International  Sunday-School  Convention,  and 
was  held  at  Baltimore,  Maryland,  May,  1875.  Upward  of 
300  delegates  were  present  from  twenty-seven  states,  the 
District  of  Columbia,  and  Canada.  Rev.  George  A.  Peltz 
of  New  Jersey  was  president;  Rev.  Edwin  W.  Rice  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, Rev.  M.  B.  Dewitt  of  Tennessee,  Rev.  Alfred  Andrews, 
E.  C.  Chapin  and  Eben  Shute,  were  secretaries.  The  special 
feature  of  this  convention  was  a  statistical  report  of  Sunday- 
schools  for  North  America,  showing  the  membership  to  be 
about  6,500,000  in  the  United  States  and  300,000  in  Canada. 

International  Sunday-School  Conventions  were  held  once 
every  three  years  from  1875  until  1914,  when  a  change  was 
made  to  quadrennial  meetings. 

The  second  International  Sunday-School  Convention  was 
held  at  Atlanta,  Georgia,  April,  1878;  the  third  at  Toronto, 
Canada,  June,  1881;  the  fourth  at  Louisville,  Kentucky,  June, 
1884;  the  fifth  at  Chicago,  Illinois,  June,  1887;  the  sixth  at 
Pittsburgh,  Pennsylvania,  June,  1890,  with  a  report  from  its 

Said  superintendent,  William  Reynolds;  the  seventh  at  St.  Louis, 
lissouri,  August,  1893;  the  eighth  at  Boston,  Massachusetts, 
June,  1896;  the  ninth  at  Atlanta,  Georgia,  April,  1899,  charac- 
terized by  sessions  of  the  Field  Workers'  Association;  the  tenth 
at  Denver,  Colorado,  June,  1902,  when  Secretary  Marion 
Lawrance  made  his  first  triennial  report;  the  eleventh  in  Toronto, 
Canada,  June,  1905,  marked  by  an  exhibition  of  historical  publi- 
cations illustrating  the  history  of  Sunday-schools;  the  twelfth  at 
Louisville,  Kentucky,  June,  1908,  at  which  the  charter  granted 
in  1907  by  Congress  was  reported;  the  thirteenth  at  San  Fran- 
cisco, California,  June,  1911,  registering  its  change  of  name  from 
Convention  to  Association,  and  reporting  a  new  lesson  com- 
mittee appointed  by  the  trustees  instead  of  by  the  convention 
as  hitherto;  and  the  fourteenth  convention  at  Chicago,  June, 
1914,  reporting  that  the  dissension  arising  out  of  the  incorpora- 
tion of  the  association  and  its  appointment  of  the  lesson  com- 
mittee by  trustees  had  been  adjusted,  an  agreement  being  made 
with  the  Sunday-School  Council  of  Evangelical  Denominations 
creating  a  joint  international  lesson  committee,  eight  members 

1  See  section  on  International  Uniform  Lessons. 


CONVENTIONS— SUNDAY-SCHOOL  WORK     367 

only  being  chosen  by  the  convention,  eight  by  the  Council,  and 
one  by  each  of  the  denominations  having  a  lesson  committee.1 
The  president  of  this  convention  was  Dr.  H.  M.  Hamill  of  Ten- 
nessee. 

The  fifteenth  convention  is  appointed  at  New  York  in  1918. 

World  Sunday-School  Conventions. — Meetings  looking  to  a 
world-wide  view  of  the  work  were  held  at  irregular  intervals 
on  and  before  the  Jubilee  of  the  founding  of  modern  Sunday- 
schools  in  1830,  observed  in  1831.  The  first  formal  conference 
or  general  Sunday-school  convention  of  this  type,  however, 
was  held  in  London,  in  connection  with  the  International  In- 
dustrial Exhibition,  September,  1862.  Delegates  were  present 
from  all  parts  of  Great  Britain,  from  America,  European  coun- 
tries, and  Australia.  Carefully  prepared  historical  papers 
were  presented  by  leaders  of  high  repute  upon  the  growth  and 
influence  of  Sunday-schools  in  England,  Ireland,  Wales  and 
Scotland,  and  discussions  were  had  by  prominent  workers 
upon  the  objects,  classification,  etc.,  of  Sunday-schools,  and  of 
the  state  and  prospects  of  the  work  abroad. 

Suggestions  for  a  world-wide  conference  had  been  made  re- 
peatedly by  workers  in  the  American  Sunday-school  Union, 
but  a  definite  proposition  was  made  to  call  a  convention  of  this 
kind  at  a  meeting  held  in  Chautauqua,  New  York,  in  1886. 
This  so-called  first  World's  Convention  met  in  London  in  1889, 
attended  by  242  delegates  from  the  United  States. 

The  joint  general  secretary,  Frank  L.  Brown,  furnished  the 
following  statement: 

The  World's  Sunday-School  Association  was  organized  at  the 
World's  Convention  at  Rome  in  1907.  Conventions  were  held 
successively  at  London,  1889;  St.  Louis,  1893;  London,  1898; 
Jerusalem,  1904;  Rome,  1907;  Washington,  1910;  and  Zurich, 
1913.  At  the  Zurich  convention  2609  delegates  were  present, 
representing  fifty-eight  countries  and  about  seventy-five  de- 
nominations. 

The  Executive  Committee  of  the  Association  is  composed  of 
fifty-seven  members,  exclusive  of  the  officers.  The  world-field, 
for  purposes  of  administration,  was  assigned  to  American  and 
British  sections  of  the  Executive  Committee,  the  American 
section  taking  Japan,  Korea,  the  Philippines,  South  America, 
and  the  Moslem  fields.  To  the  British  section  was  assigned 
China,  India,  South  Africa  and  Europe.  The  purpose  and 
policy  of  the  Association  stated  by  the  Rome  Convention  were: 

1  See  section  on  International  Uniform  Lessons. 


368  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

(1)  That  this  Association  shall  hold  conventions  and  gather 
information  concerning  the  conditions  of  Sunday-schools 
throughout  the  world  by  correspondence,  visitation,  and  other 
methods. 

(2)  That  it  shall  seek  to  extend  the  work  and  increase  the 
efficiency  of  Sunday-schools  by  co-operation  with  Sunday-school 
and  missionary  organizations  and  otherwise,  especially  in 
those  regions  of  the  world  most  in  need  of  help. 

(3)  That  it  shall  seek  to  improve  as  far  as  possible  the  meth- 
ods of  organization  and  instruction  in  the  Sunday-schools,  and 
promote  the  formation  of  Sunday-school  unions  and  associa- 
tions. 

The  Association  was  incorporated  in  America  in  1916,  The 
budget  of  the  American  section  of  the  Committee  is  about 
$40,000  annually.  Salaried  secretaries  are  under  appointment 
in  Korea,  Japan,  China,  the  Philippines,  India,  Moslem 
fields,  South  America,  and  some  of  the  countries  of  Europe. 
These  secretaries  develop  literature,  promote  conventions  and 
institutes,  and  train  a  Sunday-school  leadership.  The  member- 
ship of  the  British  section  includes  representatives  of  the  Mis- 
sion Boards.  One-half  of  the  American  section  of  the  Executive 
Committee  is  composed  of  representatives  of  the  Mission  and 
Sunday-school  boards  of  America. 

The  Association  reported,  at  Zurich,  the  world  Sunday-school 
membership  as  30,015,037,  with  310,057  Sunday-schools  and 
2,669,630  officers  and  teachers. 

The  officers  of  the  Association  of  1916  are  H.  J.  Heinz,  Pitts- 
burgh, Pennsylvania,  Chairman  of  the  Executive  Committee; 
Rev.  Carey  Bonner,  London,  England,  and  Frank  L.  Brown, 
New  York  City,  General  Secretaries;  Rt.  Hon.  T.  R.  Ferens, 
M.  P.,  London,  England,  and  Arthur  M.  Harris,  New  York  City, 
General  Treasurers;  E.  K.  Warren,  Three  Oaks,  Michigan, 
Chairman  of  the  Central  Committee. 

The  conspicuous  methods  taken  by  the  World  Association  to 
promote  its  objects  has  been  the  sending  of  deputations  to  visit 
the  various  countries  round  the  world,  including  Australia, 
India,  South  America,  Japan,  China,  Korea,  the  Philippines, 
and  South  America,  under  the  leadership  of  H.  J.  Heinz,  E.  K. 
Warren,  George  W.  Bailey,1  Fred  A.  Wells,  Marion  Lawrance, 
Carey  Bonner,  Sir  Robert  Laidlaw,1  Rev.  F.  B.  Meyer,  Frank 
L.  Brown,  W.  N.  Hartshorn,  and  others. 

Conventions  or  Associations. — The  history  of  the  Sunday- 
school  convention  movement  indicates  the  tendency  of  these 
gathering  to  change  from  a  mass  meeting,  composed  of  repre- 
sentatives from  individual  schools,  to  a  permanent  association 
with  legislative  functions.  The  leaders  who  proposed  the  first 
National  Sunday-School  Convention  aimed  to  secure  a  meeting 
which  would  give  the  widest  freedom  of  expression  to  repre- 
sentatives direct  from  the  school,  each  convention  to  be  self- 

1  Deceased. 


CONVENTIONS— SUNDAY-SCHOOL  WORK     369 

controlled  and  self-managed  in  its  arrangements  and  proceed- 
ings, and  when  the  same  was  concluded  its  authority  should 
cease  or  should  not  extend  beyond  the  suggesting  of  a  call  for  a 
future  similar  assembly. 

The  functions  of  the  convention  were  to  be  limited  to  the 
gathering  and  collating  of  information  in  respect  to  the  pres- 
ent condition  of  Sunday-schools,  advising  improvements  that 
could  be  made  in  view  of  the  experience  of  the  past,  and 
arousing  greater  enthusiasm  for  the  cause. 

In  the  course  of  time  new  leaders  came  to  the  front  who 
proposed  to  change  the  conventions  to  a  permanently  organ- 
ized body  to  be  called  ''association."  This  tendency  was 
stoutly  opposed  by  early  leaders,  who  declared  that  the  useful- 
ness of  the  convention  would  be  seriously  impaired  by  this 
course.  They  opposed  the  drift  toward  a  permanently  organ- 
ized body,  or  the  assumption  of  any  legislative  powers,  believ- 
ing that  while  there  might  be  a  gain  in  stability  of  organiza- 
tion, there  would  be  a  loss  of  its  real  purpose :  the  representa- 
tion from  the  individual  schools  would  disappear,  and  a  free 
expression  of  views  by  the  ordinary  workers  would  be  lost — 
conditions  very  desirable  to  retain. 

Whether  this  impression  was  correct  or  not,  it  is  a  fact  that 
the  change  of  the  convention  to  "The  International  Sunday- 
School  Association,"  governed  by  trustees  instead  of  by  dele- 
gates, created  dissension,  resulting  in  the  Association  losing 
the  authority  to  choose  the  majority  of  the  Lesson  Committee, 
and  in  a  diminished  enthusiasm  and  interest  in  its  plans  within 
the  rank  and  file  of  some  active  Christian  workers. 

In  the  International  Convention,  moreover,  the  appoint- 
ment of  delegates,  when  made  by  the  state  and  provincial 
associations,  left  the  individual  schools  often  without  special 
representation,  a  condition  prevailing  in  many  of  the  state 
and  provincial  associations  themselves — and  a  condition 
which  the  originators  of  conventions  definitely  planned  to 
prevent. 

In  the  county  conventions  there  was  some  definite  effort  to 
preserve  special  representation  from  the  individual  schools  and 
to  have  a  greater  freedom  of  popular  expression  from  the  or- 
dinary workers.  The  larger  schools,  however,  in  this  case  natu- 
rally absorbed  much  of  the  time  and  attention  of  the  conven- 


370  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

tions;  the  smaller  schools  gained  less  benefit  than  from  the 
meetings  of  earlier  conventions. 

Superintendents  and  missionaries  of  the  American  Sunday- 
School  Union  say  that  the  influence  of  the  Sunday-School 
Association  work  does  not  reach  more  than  15  to  20  per  cent, 
of  the  Union  schools  in  the  country.  The  Master  teaches  us 
to  be  helpful  not  alone  to  the  strongest  but  also  to  the  weakest, 
and  to  give  inspiration  and  a  helping  hand  to  those  who  are 
struggling  in  feebleness  and  in  ignorance  to  become  strong. 

Institutes. — As  early  as  1824  the  American  Sunday-School 
Union  recognized  the  importance  of  trained  teachers,  and 
started  The  American  Sunday-School  Magazine,  "to  place 
within  the  reach  of  every  Sunday-school  teacher  the  improve- 
ments in  the  system  and  information  on  subjects  which  may 
render  their  labors  easy  and  efficient."  l 

Two  years  later  it  published  with  approval  a  plan  proposed 
by  its  auxiliary  in  New  York,  "to  open  a  school  for  teachers 
on  some  week-day  or  Sabbath  evening  for  the  purpose  of 
instruction  in  the  practical  duties  of  a  Sunday-school  teacher," 
giving  "a  thorough  acquaintance  with  the  best  plan  of  teaching 
a  class  and  a  uniform  system  of  instruction."2 

In  1836-37  the  Legislature  of  Massachusetts  created  a 
Board  of  Education,  with  Horace  Mann,  who  had  been  a 
member  of  the  legislature,  as  secretary.  The  object  of  that 
board  was  to  develop  and  discuss  principles  and  collect  infor- 
mation on  education  for  the  improvement  of  teachers  in  public 
schools.  This  board  issued  an  address  to  the  public  inviting 
the  friends  of  education  "to  assemble  in  convention  in  their 
respective  counties,"  and  instructed  its  secretary,  Horace 
Mann,  to  be  present,  to  obtain  information  in  regard  to  the 
condition  of  schools,  and  to  explain  to  the  public  what  was  the 
motive  and  object  of  the  board.  These  conventions,  which 
were  really  institutes,  were  held  for  several  years,  and  the 
Lectures  on  Education,  presented  by  Mr.  Mann,  were  published. 

From  this  movement  emerged  the  later  institutes  for  public 
and  Sunday-school  teachers.  In  1839  a  well-known  educator, 
Henry  Barnard,  LL.D.,  held  meetings,  known  as  "Teachers' 
Institutes,"  in  Connecticut.     In  1843  the  Church  of  England 

>  Address  to  Friends  of  Sunday-Schools  in  the  United  States,  1824. 
i  Report,  1827,  p.  47. 


CONVENTIONS— SUNDAY-SCHOOL  WORK     371 

Sunday-School  Institute  was  formed  in  London,  one  of  its 
objects  being  to  supply  teachers  with  aids  in  the  instruction 
and  management  of  its  classes.  But  the  term  "institute" 
seems  to  have  designated  an  organization  of  more  general 
character  than  the  specialized  Sunday-school  teachers'  insti- 
tute of  America. 

The  plan  of  the  New  York  Sunday-School  Union  of  1827 
was  carried  out  to  a  limited  extent  in  different  cities.  When 
institutes  for  public-school  teachers  gained  some  popularity, 
a  similar  plan  for  Sunday-school  teachers  was  revived.  Dr. 
D.  P.  Kidder,  in  1847,  suggested  voluntary  organizations  to 
instruct  teachers,  similar  to  those  then  common  in  New  York 
and  other  states  for  public-school  teachers,  but  the  next  year 
expressed  the  fear  that  the  day  for  the  coming  of  such  insti- 
tutions was  far  distant.  The  need,  however,  was  widely  felt 
and  suggestions  and  efforts  appeared  spontaneously  in  various 
sections  of  the  country,  calling  for  some  movement  to  train 
teachers  and  make  them  more  competent  for  their  work.  For 
it  was  said  that  conventions — local  and  general — were  useful  in 
gathering  information  and  in  suggesting  improvements,  but 
that  the  best  conventions  still  left  an  important  work  undone. 
Inexperienced  persons  and  young  teachers  required  special 
training  and  instruction  to  make  them  competent  and  efficient 
and  this  could  be  done  better  by  an  organization  limited  spe- 
cially to  giving  instruction  in  principles  of  education  and  meth- 
ods of  teaching.  It  was  not  to  displace  or  supercede  conven- 
tions, which  were  excellent  for  inspiration,  but  to  supplement 
them  by  meetings  which  would  be  devoted  more  exclusively 
to  instruction. 

Out  of  the  conferences  of  teachers  upon  the  miscellaneous 
and  general  topics  relating  to  their  work,  gradually  emerged  a 
system  of  instruction  more  closely  resembling  a  real  school  for 
teachers.  These  conferences  and  lectures  began  in  the  West 
as  early  as  1861,  by  John  H.  Vincent,  followed  by  Edward 
Eggleston  and  others.  The  idea  was  heartily  approved  by 
Dr.  John  S.  Hart,  an  educator  and  editor  with  the  American 
Sunday-School  Union,  and  was  adopted  by  R.  G.  Pardee, 
Ralph  Wells,  Henry  Clay  Trumbull  and  many  others. 

Thus  American  Sunday-School  Union  workers  were  quick 
to  adopt  and  develop  Sunday-school  institutes  as  a  means  of 


372  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

improving  teachers  in  Union  schools.  The  course  of  instruc- 
tion became  orderly  and  systematic,  being  grouped  under 
three  chief  heads:  the  subject  taught,  the  learner,  and  the 
teacher.  In  the  early  sixties  a  chain  of  these  institutes  was 
held  in  Wisconsin  and  Minnesota,  in  which  this  system  of  in- 
struction was  introduced  by  Edwin  W.  Rice  and  his  colaborers. 
A  report  of  this  work  was  commended  by  the  Society  in  these 
terms: 

The  Board  cannot  withhold  the  expression  of  their  grati- 
fication in  the  evidence  of  the  system,  thoroughness,  and  energy 
with  which  these  missionary  labors  have  been  prosecuted,  under 
Mr.  Rice's  direction,  by  the  missionaries  associated  with  him; 
and  they  are  specially  interested  in  the  efforts  made  and  pro- 
posed to  elevate  the  character  of  Sunday-school  instruction  on 
their  fields  by  means  of  normal  classes  for  training  teachers  .  .  . 
and  similar  improvements.1 


The  plan  and  course  of  preparation  for  teachers  commended 
by  the  Union  gave  special  attention  to  the  development  of 
the  child  mind,  and  suggested  ways  of  adapting  instruction  to 
the  several  stages  of  mind  growth.  Most  of  the  institute  work 
up  to  1872  overlooked  these  successive  steps  in  the  develop- 
ment of  young  and  mature  minds,  as  the  programs  of  that 
period  indicate. 

The  normal  department  of  the  Northwestern  Female  College 
issued  a  plan  of  study  in  1866,  covering  40  sessions,  and  noted 
five  books  for  study,  to  wit:  Pardee's  Sunday-School  Worker, 
Hart's  Thoughts  on  Teaching,  Packard's  Teacher  Taught  and 
Teacher  Training,  and  Alfred  Taylor's  Sunday-School  Photo- 
graphs. 

But  none  of  these  excellent  treatises  points  out  the  marked 
changes  in  mental  development,  or  emphasizes  the  importance 
of  adapting  instruction  to  these  changes,  as  the  course  of  in- 
struction used  in  Wisconsin  attempted  to  do  in  1865  and  1866. 

So  rapidly  did  this  plan  of  training  teachers  gain  in  the 
Union's  work  that  by  1871  it  appointed  Henry  Clay  Trumbull, 
who  had  been  conspicuously  successful  in  this  form  of  labor,  as 
Normal  Secretary.  In  making  this  appointment,  the  Society 
announced:  "While  the  position  of  Normal  Secretary  of  this 
Society  is  a  new  one,  the  duties  attached  to  it  are  by  no  means 

•  Report,  1866,  p.  49. 


CONVENTIONS— SUNDAY-SCHOOL  WORK     373 

novel.  The  prime  object  of  the  Society  has  ever  been  as  well 
the  improvement  of  Sunday-schools  generally  as  the  forming 
of  new  schools  in  needy  districts.  .  .  .  The  progress  of  the 
Sunday-school  cause  of  late  years  increased  the  demand  on  all 
sides  for  special  laborers  to  train  teachers  for  and  in  their  work 
and  to  exhibit  before  them  approved  modes  and  appliances  of 
Sunday-school  instruction.' ' 

While  the  Sunday-School  Teachers'  Institute  was  intended 
to  instruct  teachers  in  the  principles  and  methods  of  teaching, 
it  did  not  hold  continuous  sessions.  It  was  flexible  also  in  its 
size  and  the  field  represented.  Sometimes  representatives  in 
a  small  district,  or  a  whole  county  or  a  whole  state,  would  be 
gathered  into  such  a  meeting.  Nor  was  there  a  stereotyped 
program  or  order  of  procedure.  Often  they  took  a  wide  scope, 
dealing  in  miscellaneous  and  general  matters  relating  to  the 
school  as  well  as  to  specific  instruction  and  training  of  the 
teacher.  While  not  a  permanent  institution, '  institutes  con- 
tinued for  many  years  to  be  very  useful  in  promoting  higher 
ideals  and  a  better  knowledge  of  the  best  methods  of  reaching 
or  developing  child  mind,  as  well  as  adults. 

Assemblies  and  Schools  of  Methods. — Among  the  many  mod- 
ern movements  in  religious  education  which  have  been  the 
outgrowth  from  the  early  and  ancient  councils  and  confer- 
ences, the  summer  assemblies  call  for  a  brief  notice. 

Following  the  appointment  of  H.  Clay  Trumbull  as  Normal 
Secretary  of  the  American  Sunday-School  Union  in  1871,  and 
his  activities,  came  the  Chautauqua  movement  started  by 
John  H.  Vincent  and  Lewis  Miller  in  1874.  They  instituted 
the  Chautauqua  Sunday-School  Assembly  with  a  course  of 
normal  study  which  they  said  was  "in  substantial  agreement 
with  that  adopted  by  the  normal  departments  of  the  Baptist, 
Presbyterian,  and  American  Sunday-School  Union  Boards." 

The  Chautauqua  movement  very  soon  expanded,  taking  in 
broad  educational  schemes,  literary  and  scientific  circles,  and 
the  correspondence  schools.  It  was  incorporated,  and  owns 
upward  of  300  acres  of  land  on  Chautauqua  Lake,  New  York, 
with  assets  amounting  to  about  $1,000,000,  with  liabilities 
approximating  $400,000.  Its  early  vision  along  Sunday-school 
lines  was  not  realized.  Normal  Sunday-school  work  became 
an  incident  only  in  its  educational  and  other  schemes.    Though 


374  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

under  the  control  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  denomination, 
Chautauqua  invited  leaders  in  other  denominations  to  have 
organized  '  'assemblies/ '  allotting  to  them  space  on  their 
grounds  and  privileges  for  holding  separate  denominational 
meetings. 

In  the  twentieth  century,  summer  assemblies  have  become 
numerous,  many  being  held  in  each  of  the  states  and  provinces 
of  America,  Some  of  them  have  become  regularly  organized 
bodies,  under  the  control  of  some  denominational  or  inter- 
denominational organization,  and  meet  at  such  times  and 
places  as  may  be  determined  by  the  controlling  body. 

Comparatively  few  of  these  summer  assemblies  relate  ex- 
clusively to  the  work  of  the  Sunday-school.  Nearly  every 
conceivable  form  of  mental  and  religious  activity  is  repre- 
sented or  attempted  to  be  promoted  by  them.  Even  those 
that  are  formed  for  the  Sunday-school  take  up  different  phases 
of  that  movement,  specialize  in  adult  classes,  training  secre- 
taries and  field  workers  in  forms  of  Bible  study,  and  various 
other  activities  allied  to  the  Sunday-school  movement.  Thus 
the  summer  assemblies  at  East  Northfield  center  about  Bible 
study,  while  the  one  at  Lake  Geneva,  Wisconsin,  centers 
about  training  of  secretaries. 

The  drift  of  these  summer  assemblies  away  from  the  Sunday- 
school  is  illustrated  by  a  brief  sketch  of  the  Chautauqua 
movement  under  the  leadership  of  Dr.  Vincent  and  Mr. 
Miller.  The  Rev.  E.  Morris  Fergusson,  who  was  interested 
in  these  assemblies  as  State  Sunday-School  Secretary  of  New 
Jersey,  and  later  in  denominational  educational  movements, 
has  expressed  his  views  in  regard  to  these  movements  sub- 
stantially as  follows: 

John  H.  Vincent  and  Lewis  Miller,  in  the  woods  on  the"shores  of 
Chautauqua  Lake,  had  an  inspiration  to  bring  out  there  a  great 
tent-colony  of  Sunday-school  teachers  and  so  solve  the  normal 
problem  of  the  Sunday-school.  But  they  were  never  able  to 
make  it  an  economic,  self-supporting  reality.  The  normal  class 
feature  took  second  place  to  the  vacation  feature.  Good  came 
through  the  working  out  of  standard  forms  of  normal  lessons  by 
the  leaders,  Dr.  Jesse  Lyman  Hurlbut  and  others.  Other 
courses  of  study  soon  threw  the  Sunday-school  courses  quite 
into  the  shade.  There  were  five  distinct  movements:  the 
Sunday-school  course,  the  vacation  opportunity,  the  audito- 
rium platform,  the  professional  courses,  and  the  general  meet- 
ings.   From  the  second  of  these  came  a  sixth,  real  estate  propo- 


CONVENTIONS— SUNDAY-SCHOOL  WORK     375 

sition,  for  cottagers  to  "buy  a  lot  and  put  up  a  bungalow." 
Efforts  to  keep  the  commercial  feature  out  did  not  always 
avail.  And  the  seventh  feature  followed,  of  a  four  year  course 
of  study  on  educational  problems — a  feature  which  has  given 
Chautauqua  its  distinction  and  its  fame. 

An  effort  to  hold  these  assemblies  to  the  Sunday-school 
problem  was  made  in  other  places,  as  at  Monteagle,  Tennessee, 
under  the  direction  of  Dr.  and  Mrs.  H.  M.  Hamill. 

The  denominational  summer  assemblies  have  drifted,  so  that 
Sunday-school  features  are  not  the  most  prominent,  but  rather 
incidental,  as  they  have  become  at  Chautauqua. 

In  view  of  this  failure  to  hold  Chautauqua  and  other  assem- 
blies to  the  Sunday-school  idea,  Mr.  Fergusson  says: 

I  proposed  a  different  policy.  Abandoning  the  effort  to  bene- 
fit Sunday-school  teachers  in  general,  who  could  not  be  brought 
to  a  summer  resort  for  a  course  of  study,  I  determined  on  a  short 
course  for  primary  teachers  only,  which  was  began  at  Asbury 
Park  in  1894.  [In  Mr.  Fergusson's  view,  this  type  did  persist 
without  the  need  of  support  from  any  adjunct  features.]  At 
Winona  a  modified  form  of  the  summer  school  feature  was 
grafted  on  a  summer  assembly  and  continued  for  some  time. 
The  young  peoples',  and  student,  and  general  conferences  now 
held  there  are  not  directly  in  the  interest  of  Sunday-schools, 
but  generate  an  atmosphere  of  their  own.1 

Out  of  this  drift  has  come  "the  school  of  principles  and 
methods,"  held  at  different  places  under  the  direction  of  de- 
nominational and  interdenominational  associations.  A  list 
shows  twenty-eight  such  schools  of  methods  in  fifteen  states, 
and  three  British  provinces  in  America  are  under  interdenom- 
inational leadership.  Twenty-two  such  schools  in  thirteen 
states  are  known  to  be  held  with  some  regularity  under  denom- 
inational leadership.  Both  denominational  and  interdenom- 
inational schools  of  this  character  are  held  in  Ohio.  Thus  we 
have  one  or  more  of  these  schools  in  twenty-seven  of  the  forty- 
eight  states  in  the  country. 

No  doubt  these  schools  prove  of  great  advantage  to  the  com- 
paratively few  who  can  avail  themselves  of  their  privileges. 
The  workers  in  Union  schools  in  the  rural  districts  are  seldom 
reached  by  these  methods  of  improvement,  since  distance  and 
the  time  and  expense  put  them  out  of  reach  of  the  great  mass 
of  those  in  the  farming  districts  of  our  country. 

Some  elastic  method  of  offering  a  teacher-training  course  of 
study  and  improvement  to  these  isolated  workers  must  be 

1  Letters  of  Rev.  E.  Morris  Fergusson  to  Edwin  Wilbur  Rice,  April,  1916. 


376  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

provided  if  we  are  to  attain  efficient  teachers  and  a  constant 
improvement  and  advance  in  religious  education  in  the  rural 
districts  of  the  nation. 

Teacher  Training. — Teacher  training  merits  a  full  treat- 
ment, but  it  must  be  passed  in  review,  and  the  reader  referred 
to  special  works  for  full  information.  From  the  beginning  of 
the  modern  Sunday-school  movement  the  proper  equipment 
of  the  teacher  has  been  held  essential  to  its  life.  The  teacher 
must  inform,  inspire,  and  train  his  scholars.  To  do  so  he  him- 
self must  first  be  informed,  inspired,  and  trained.  He  must 
possess  the  fundamental  elements  of  character,  not  pretend  to 
have  them.  To  this  should  be  added  sincerity,  sympathy, 
experience,  knowledge,  and  mental  training — points  that  have 
been  persistingly  urged,  in  many  ways,  for  a  century.  Train- 
ing classes,  model  schools,  normal  schools  and  departments, 
child-development  study  courses,  studies  in  art,  laws,  prin- 
ciples, methods,  and  ideals  of  teaching,  and  talks  on  pedagogy, 
have  been  presented  in  forms  and  in  volumes  innumerable, 
reasonable  and  unreasonable,  light,  humorous,  stilted,  wise 
and  otherwise.  To  the  ordinary  teacher  much  of  this  display 
of  wisdom  was  as  bewildering  as  a  dense  forest,  crowded  with  a 
denser,  impenetrable  growth  of  underbrush,  would  be  to  a  lost 
hunter.  Early  in  the  twentieth  century  many  attempts  were 
made  to  clear  up  this  confusion  and  reach  some  common  stand- 
ard of  attainment  in  teacher  training. 

The  International  Sunday-School  Association,  with  upward 
of  3,500  classes  and  over  40,000  students,  set  up  a  tentative 
standard  for  all  teachers  who  wished  to  gain  its  diplomas. 
Several  of  the  state  associations  also  had  "standard  courses" 
for  teachers,  and  granted  diplomas. 

The  Sunday-School  Council  of  Evangelical  Denominations 
in  1910  found  various  courses  extant,  and  decided  to  revise 
teacher-training  standards  for  its  constituents.  The  Religious 
Education  Association  also  investigated  the  teacher-training 
standards,  and  reported  its  views  in  1912.  The  general  dis- 
content with  the  standardizing  of  teacher-training  courses  thus 
far  attained  was  expressed  by  the  Committee  on  Education 
at  the  International  Convention  in  Chicago,  June,  1914,  under 
eight  specifications:  (1)  The  results  are  inadequate,  compared 
with  the  time  and  energy  expended;   (2)  51  per  cent,  of  the 


CONVENTIONS— SUNDAY-SCHOOL  WORK     377 

enrollment  fail  to  complete  the  course;  (3)  the  reading  habit 
has  not  been  created  and  libraries  not  encouraged;  (4)  a  sense 
of  self-sufficiency  has  been  created.  The  remaining  specifica- 
tions state,  among  other  things,  that  the  first  standard  course 
of  text-books  have  not  proved  an  incentive  to  advanced  study, 
and  that  a  "higher  type"  of  work  is  desirable. 

The  Sunday-School  Council  of  Evangelical  Denominations 
in  1915  reached  similar  conclusions,  and  recommended  that 
denominations  "plan  to  issue  only  one  teacher-training  di- 
ploma and  that  not  less  than  120  lesson  periods  be  requisite  for 
the  recognition."  The  particular  features  in  the  plan  were 
detailed  in  thirteen  added  specifications. 

Many  other  plans  of  instruction  have  been  projected  and  are 
available  for  Sunday-school  teacher  training.  The  training 
class  in  the  local  Sunday-school,  courses  of  lectures  and  of 
study  in  some  colleges,  seminaries,  and  universities,  special 
summer  courses,  conferences,  and  correspondence  school 
studies  are  among  the  many  types  of  training  open  to  teachers. 
In  schools  using  the  "uniform  lessons"  teachers'  meetings  are 
widely  useful  and  still  successfully  maintained. 

Union  Sunday-schools  in  rural  districts  may  be  greatly 
aided  by  the  training  courses  specially  adapted  to  their  condi- 
tions and  prepared  by  the  Rev.  James  McConaughy,  Litt.  D., 
Editor  of  the  publications  of  the  American  Sunday-School 
Union.1 

Trained  Leadership. — The  demand  for  trained  leadership 
has  become  imperative.  The  development  of  this  sorely 
needed  class  of  workers  has  begun  in  many  places,  but  in  rural 
and  smaller  Sunday-schools  it  has  been  undervalued  or  over- 
looked. No  matter  how  well  trained  the  teachers  or  officers 
are,  however,  other  qualities  are  required  for  an  efficient  leader- 
ship. The  position  calls  for  great  resourcefulness,  quick  in- 
itiative, open-minded  views,  wide  knowledge  of  methods,  a 
strong  magnetic  personality,  and  deep  spirituality.  A  com- 
petent leader  will  put  new  life  into  any  school  or  group  of 
schools.  The  grouping  of  rural  Union  schools  that  has  been 
adopted  in  many  sections  offers  a  wide  field  of  usefulness  and 
has  created  a  greater  demand  for  trained  leadership.     The 

1  See  Reports  of  the  American  Sunday-School  Union,  1826-1917,  passim;  also  of  the 
International  Sunday-School  Association,  1914;  Sunday-School  Council,  1915;  and  Dr.  B. 
S.  Winchester,  on  Teacher  Training  in  The  Encyclopaedia  of  Sunday-Schools. 


378  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

best  leaders,  others  things  being  equal,  will  be  developed  in  the 
communities  and  groups  of  Sunday-schools  where  their  ser- 
vices are  most  needed.  An  "imported"  leader  is  handicapped 
from  the  first  by  want  of  knowledge  of  habits,  education,  and 
conditions  of  the  people,  and  must  stumble  along  in  the  dark 
until  that  knowledge  is  gained.  Adequately  trained  leader- 
ship is  the  crying  need  of  the  institution,  especially  in  the  rural 
schools  where  churches  and  pastors  have  not  arrived.  Even 
where  there  is  a  good  country  Sunday-school  and  church,  a 
specially  trained  leader  is  essential  to  make  the  rural  church 
or  the  school  the  center  of  influence  for  the  betterment  of  the 
community — such  a  center  and  power  as  it  may  and  ought  to 
become  to  fulfil  its  rightful  mission.  It  will  be  a  great  for- 
ward step  in  the  usefulness  and  progress  of  religious  education 
in  country  districts  when  the  rural  Sunday-school  earnestly 
enters  upon  the  development  of  a  trained  Christian  leadership. 

Organized  Denominational  Sunday-School  Work. — Organ- 
ized Sunday-school  work  by  separate  denominations  was  a 
natural  development  in  the  modern  Sunday-school  movement. 
The  religious  instruction  of  the  young  in  the  churches  was 
committed  to  the  clergy,  the  officers,  and  heads  of  families. 
This  method  of  teaching  chiefly  by  catechisms  and  oral  in- 
struction, which  prevailed  long  before  Raikes  began  his  work  in 
Gloucester,  was  preferred  or  generally  promoted  by  churches 
of  all  denominations  for  some  time  after  his  day.  Thus,  dis- 
tinctive denominational  Sunday-school  organizations  followed 
those  of  the  union  type  in  America,  though  not  until  a  genera- 
tion later,  and,  after  nearly  two  generations  of  organized 
union  Sunday-school  efforts,  in  Great  Britain. 

Early  in  the  last  century  the  doctrines  that  divided  religious 
bodies  were  more  ardently  proclaimed  and  more  zealously  held 
to  be  essential  to  salvation  than  in  this  generation.  When 
Sunday-schools  were  widely  introduced  into  the  churches  for 
the  religious  instruction  of  the  children  of  the  church  as  well 
as  for  those  in  families  outside  its  pale;  the  denominations,  one 
after  another,  deemed  it  necessary  to  organize  a  "department" 
or  "society"  for  promoting  Sunday-school  work  in  accord  with 
its  peculiar  creedal  belief. 

The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  was  foremost  to  insist 
upon  having  text-books  and  catechisms  in  its  Sunday-schools 


CONVENTIONS— SUNDAY-SCHOOL  WORK     379 

that  gave  prominence  to  the  distinctive  doctrines  of  Method- 
ism. In  1827  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Sunday-School  Union 
was  formed  (according  to  some  of  its  secretaries)  as  a  protest 
against  the  aim  and  ideal  presented  by  the  founders  of  the 
modern  Sunday-school  movement  expressed  in  the  various 
unions,  such  as  the  London  Sunday-School  Union,  and  the 
American  Sunday-School  Union.  It  has  been  reorganized 
several  times,  as  in  1828  and  1840.  It  was  consolidated  with 
the  Board  of  Education  in  1904,  dissolved,  and  succeeded  by 
the  Board  of  Sunday-Schools  in  1908.  It  issued  The  Sunday- 
School  Advocate  bi-weekly,  in  1841,  and  weekly  in  1872.  It 
now  publishes  The  Sunday-School  Journal  monthly,  with 
periodical  lesson  helps  on  the  Uniform  and  on  the  Graded 
Series  of  Lessons,  besides  library  books,  manuals  for  teachers 
and  workers,  hymn  books,  and  a  full  line  of  publications  for 
the  equipment  of  its  schools.  This  literature  has  been  de- 
veloped and  its  use  promoted  by  such  leaders,  among  others, 
as  Dr.  D.  P.  Kidder,  Dr.  Daniel  Wise,  Dr.  John  H.  Vincent, 
Dr.  J.  L.  Hurlbut,  Dr.  J.  T.  McFarland,  and  Dr.  H.  H.  Meyer, 
aided  by  a  large  corps  of  associates.  Its  Sunday-school  work 
is  now  carried  on  through  six  departments,  in  charge  of  a 
special  committee  of  the  Board,  composed  of  twenty -nine  lay 
and  clerical  members  appointed  by  the  quadrennial  General 
Conference,  and  with  the  general  office  in  Chicago,  and  an 
editorial  office  in  Cincinnati,  Ohio.  It  reports  about  3,900,000 
under  all  forms  of  Sunday-school  instruction. 

The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  (South)  was  organized  as  a 
separate  body  in  1844-45,  and  continued  Sunday-school  work 
through  a  committee.  It  began  The  Visitor  about  1850. 
In  1854  the  committee  said,  "we  must  look  for  sound  conver- 
sions more  as  a  blessed  sequence  of  a  system  of  thorough  re- 
ligious education  than  as  a  result  of  those  sudden  and  over- 
whelming conversions  which  characterized  those  times  when 
such  training  was  impossible."  Later  a  "Sunday-School 
Society"  was  formed  with  a  board  of  sixty-eight  managers. 
The  Society  is  said  to  have  broken  with  its  own  weight,  and 
was  superseded,  in  1870,  by  a  general  Sunday-school  secretary, 
who  was  placed  in  charge  of  that  department  of  its  church  work. 
Rev.  Dr.  A.  G.  Haygood  filled  this  position  with  great  efficiency, 
followed  by  Dr.  W.  G.  E.  Cunnyngham  and  others,  and  now 


380  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

(1917)  by  Dr.  E.  B.  Chappell,  as  editor,  aided  by  a  Board  con- 
sisting of  a  bishop,  ten  preachers  and  ten  laymen,  with  a  corps 
of  assistants  and  field  workers.  It  reports  a  Sunday-school 
membership  of  1,692,275. 

There  are  fourteen  other  Methodist  bodies,  white  and 
colored,  in  America  that  enroll  about  1,000,000  or  more  mem- 
bers in  Sunday-school,  the  largest  of  them  being  the  colored 
Methodist  Episcopal,  with  about  360,000  teachers  and  scholars. 

The  Baptist  group  of  churches  also  comprises  fifteen  or  more 
different  bodies,  each  with  some  form  of  organized  Sunday- 
school  work.  Chief  among  these  are  the  Northern  Conven- 
tion, having  over  1,000,000  membership  in  its  Sunday-schools, 
the  Southern  Convention  with  nearly  1,500,000  enrolled  in  its 
schools,  and  the  National  Convention,  colored,  with  1,000,000 
total  school  membership.  The  New  England  Baptists  early 
co-operated  with  the  Congregationalist,  Methodist,  and  Epis- 
copal workers  in  forming  the  Massachusetts  Sunday-School 
Union  in  1825,  but  it  dissolved  in  1832,  the  Baptists  and 
Congregationalists  each  forming  a  denominational  society 
of  their  own.  Later  the  "Baptist  Tract  Society"  was  fol- 
lowed by  the  "American  Baptist  Publication  Society." 

The  government  of  Baptist  churches  is  of  the  democratic 
or  congregational  type,  and  all  their  Sunday-school  organiza- 
tions are  purely  voluntary,  not  exercising  any  judicial  or 
ecclesiastical  authority.  The  Baptist  Publication  Society 
has  long  been  recognized  as  in  the  front  rank  of  Sunday-school 
methods  and  work,  providing  a  full  series  of  helps  on  the 
Uniform  Lessons,  and  also  a  special  Graded  Series.  It  early 
issued  twenty  different  question  books.  Prominent  among 
workers  in  this  department,  past  and  present,  are  Drs.  Howard 
Malcolm,  P.  S.  Henson,  C.  R.  Blackall,  A.  J.  Rowland,  Mr.  B. 
F.  Jacobs,  Dr.  George  T.  Webb  and  W.  E.  Raffety,  Ph.  D. 
The  Society  inaugurated  a  Teacher  Training  Institute  with  a 
special  director  and  has  enrolled  about  30,000  students. 

The  Southern  Baptist  Convention  has  its  center  of  Sunday- 
school  work  at  Nashville,  Tennessee.  It  maintains  a  large 
publishing  society,  issuing  helps  in  great  variety  for  its  schools. 
Its  teacher-training  work  is  conducted  chiefly  in  large  classes, 
basing  the  instruction  on  manuals,  presenting  six  chief  topics : 
history,  organization,  methods,  child  study,  Bible  study,  and 


CONVENTIONS— SUNDAY-SCHOOL  WORK     381 

doctrines.  The  Southern  Baptists  have  a  field  Sunday-school 
work  in  each  of  the  fifteen  states  of  the  South,  which  is  under 
direction  of  their  state  Mission  Boards,  and  all  the  workers  are 
united  in  a  Field  Workers'  Association  to  promote  the  general 
cause.  Dr.  I.  J.  Van  Ness,  Dr.  J.  M.  Frost  and  Prof.  J.  R. 
Sampey  have  achieved  a  national  reputation  by  their  services 
in  Bible  educational  work. 

The  Baptists  of  Great  Britain,  with  the  Independents,  were 
active  in  the  London  Sunday-School  Union.  The  Metropoli- 
tan Tabernacle  (formerly  Spurgeon's),  London,  has  the  largest 
Sunday-school  in  the  denomination,  enrolling,  with  its  fifteen 
mission  schools,  over  6,800  pupils.  Of  the  416,000  members 
of  Baptist  churches  in  Great  Britain,  about  one-fourth  are 
teachers  or  senior  pupils.  The  total  Baptist  Sunday-school 
membership  in  Great  Britain  is  612,900  in  over  3,000  schools. 
They  have  produced  Bible  educators  of  world-wide  reputation, 
among  whom  are  Joseph  Angus,  Charles  Waters,  of  the  Bible 
Reading  Association,  Carey  Bonner  of  the  London  Union,  and 
F.  B.  Meyer,  well  known  around  the  world. 

The  Congregationalists  have  always  been  conspicuous  for 
the  emphasis  they  placed  upon  religious  education  and  a 
scientific  study  of  the  Scriptures.  Upon  the  division  of  the 
Massachusetts  Sunday-School  Union  in  1832  the  Congrega- 
tionalists formed  the  Massachusetts  Sabbath  School  Society, 
and  secured  the  Rev.  Asa  Bullard  of  the  Maine  Sunday-School 
Union  as  general  agent,  who  continued  in  this  important  work 
for  fifty  years.  It  retained  an  auxiliary  relation  to  the  Amer- 
ican Sunday-School  Union  until  1839.  In  1854  the  Doctrinal 
Tract  Society  and  the  Evangelical  Society  were  merged,  form- 
ing the  Congregational  Board  of  Publication,  and  the  Sabbath 
School  Society  was  consolidated  with  it  also  in  1868,  and 
changed  to  the  Congregational  Sunday-School  and  Publishing 
Society.  Its  plans  were  enlarged  and  modified  in  1880  and 
1883,  and  the  Rev.  D.  A.  E.  Dunning  chosen  secretary  (1881). 
In  1892  the  control  by  life  and  annual  members  was  changed, 
and  state  associations  or  conferences  given  a  distinct  represen- 
tation in  the  management. 

The  Sabbath-School  Treasury,  issued  by  the  Massachusetts 
Union  from  1825  to  1832,  became  Congregational,  and  its 
name  changed  to  the  Visitor.     The  Wellspring  for  the  young 


382  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

people  was  begun  in  1844  (soon  after  the  Penny  Gazette  in 
Philadelphia).  Question  books  of  various  types  were  issued 
from  1835  on,  and  hundreds  of  volumes  for  Sunday-school 
libraries  published.  The  Pilgrim  Teacher,  started  in  1885,  with 
The  Congregationalist  are  among  its  leading  religious  journals. 
Among  its  well-known  Sunday-school  workers,  besides  those 
already  mentioned,  are  M.  C.  Hazard,  Ph.D.,  Prof.  Amos  R. 
Wells,  Frank  K.  Sanders,  Ph.D.,  B.  S.  Winchester,  D.D.,  Dr. 
George  M.  Boynton,  Dr.  William  Ewing,  Erastus  Blakeslee, 
Dr.  F.  N.  Peloubet,  Dr.  Josiah  Strong,  Dr.  H.  A.  Bridgman, 
Prof.  W.  Douglas  Mackenzie,  and  others.  It  sustains  a 
missionary  and  extension  work,  employing  about  forty  field 
workers,  having  organized  over  12,000  Sunday-schools  since 
1884,  from  which  have  developed  1,559  Congregational 
churches  in  twenty-nine  years.  The  enrolment  in  Congre- 
gational Sunday-schools  of  the  United  States  is  stated  at 
about  758,000  in  6,000  schools. 

The  Lutherans  inherit  from  Luther  a  strong  desire  for  the 
religious  instruction  of  their  children.  They  are  divided  into 
about  twenty-one  bodies,  or  denominations,  with  a  total  church 
membership  of  nearly  2,500,000,  enrolling  about  1,000,000  in 
the  Sunday-schools  of  all  these  bodies.  The  largest  Sunday- 
school  membership  is  in  the  General  Synod  and  the  General 
Council  churches.  Many  in  the  latter  do  not  use  the  English 
language,  and  many  of  the  smaller  bodies  of  Lutherans  in  this 
country  speak  German,  Finnish,  Danish,  or  some  Scandinavian 
dialect. 

The  general  Lutheran  view  is  that  the  church  and  the  Sun- 
day-school are  identical.  The  religious  teaching  of  the  young 
was  under  the  direction  of  the  pastor  from  the  start,  and  the 
schools  or  Kindergarten  for  elementary,  classical,  or  biblical 
learning  were  in  the  churches,  or  under  their  control.  Jacob 
Spener,  August  Francke,  and  Pastors  Stuber  and  Oberlin  con- 
ducted the  training  of  youth  along  these  lines,  which  influenced 
the  methods  of  H.  M.  Muhlenberg  in  America.  Dr.  Chas.  S. 
Albert,  Dr.  Charles  P.  Wiles,  Dr.  T.  E.  Schmauk,  Prof.  Geo. 
Mezger,  Dr.  Edwin  Heyl  Delk,  and  others  are  among  leaders 
aiding  in  prosecuting  the  religious  training  of  Lutheran  youth. 

The  Presbyterian  family  of  churches  comprises  twelve  bodies 
or  denominations.     Of  these,  the  Northern,  the  Southern,  and 


CONVENTIONS— SUNDAY-SCHOOL  WORK     383 

the  United  Presbyterian,  respectively,  have  the  largest  Sun- 
day-school membership.  The  General  Assembly  (Old  School) 
in  1838  formed  the  Presbyterian  Board  of  Publication,  which 
began  to  publish  periodical  Sunday-school  literature  in  1851, 
issuing  The  Sabbath  School  Visitor.  The  General  Assembly 
(New  School)  in  1837  also  organized  a  Committee  on  Publica- 
tions to  issue  works  of  a  doctrinal  type  and  those  for  Sunday- 
school  use,  until  the  two  bodies  (Old  and  New  School)  were  re- 
united in  1870.  Special  denominational  Sunday-school  work 
was  then  enlarged  under  a  general  superintendent^  in  1871,  J. 
Bennet  Tyler  being  called  to  the  position  from  a  like  work  in 
the  American  Sunday-School  Union,  and  he  was  succeeded  by 
the  Rev.  James  A.  Worden  About  this  time  it  discontinued 
its  extensive  colporteur  work  and  followed  it  by  Sunday-school 
missionaries  and  field  workers.  In  1873  the  special  lesson 
helps  of  the  Board  were  followed  by  the  Uniform  Lessons, 
treated  in  the  Presbyterian  at  Work  (changed  to  The  West- 
minster  Teacher  in  1879),  and  by  lesson  leaves,  quarterlies, 
question  books,  and  other  requisites  for  its  schools,  in  English 
and  in  several  foreign  languages.  Among  the  well-known 
people  prominent  in  this  Board  may  be  mentioned  Dr.  John  y^" 
W.  Dulles,  Dr.  James  A.  Worden,  Dr.  E.  R.  Craven,  Dr.  ' 
Alexander  Henry,  Dr.  J.  R.  Miller,  Dr.  E.  Morris  Fergusson 
and  Dr.  John  T.  Faris.  The  Northern  Presbyterians  (Presby- 
terian Church  in  the  United  States  of  America)  enroll  over 
1,300,000  in  Sunday-schools.  The  Bethany  Presbyterian 
Sunday-school  in  Philadelphia,  founded  and  conducted  by 
John  Wanamaker,  is  reputed  to  be  among  the  largest  and  the 
most  widely  known  of  the  world's  Sunday-schools. 

The  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  (South)  be- 
gan organized  Sunday-school  work  under  "Committees"  in 
1861,  which  was  more  fully  organized  soon  after  the  Civil 
War  (1865).  It  furnishes  lessons,  Uniform  and  Graded,  text- 
books, training  courses,  and  full  equipment  for  its  schools. 
Dr.  A.  L.  Phillips,  R.  E.  Magill,  and  Dr.  Robert  A.  Lapsley 
have  proved  efficient  and  wise  workers  in  this  cause.  The 
enrolment  in  its  Sunday-schools  is  about  278,000. 

The  United  Presbyterian  Church  of  North  America  has 
always  given  great  care  to  the  religious  training  of  its  young 
people.    This  was  long  done  through  committees  of  the  vari- 


384  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

ous  Synods  or  Presbyteries.  In  1880  it  organized  a  Board  of 
Publication  which  was  required  to  prepare  suitable  literature 
for  its  Sabbath-schools.  It  issues  helps  on  the  Uniform  Les- 
sons and  a  series  of  Graded  Lessons  also.     The  Rev.  Dr.  W. 

B.  Smiley  and  Dr.  R.  J.  Miller  have  been  prominent  in  de- 
veloping and  promoting  the  cause  in  that  church.  Its  Sab- 
bath-schools enroll  upward  of  160,000  members. 

The  Presbyterian  Church  in  Canada  organized  a  separate 
department  for  Sunday-schools  in  1898,  with  Rev.  Dr.  R.  D. 
Frazer  as  editor  and  manager,  which  provides  a  complete 
series  of  lessons  for  the  young  in  the  church.  It  issued  a 
teacher-training  course  in  1902,  and  later  secured  the  Rev.  J. 

C.  Robertson  to  develop  this  work.  It  reports  upward  of  3,500 
schools,  with  about  275,000  members. 

The  Presbyterian  Church  of  England  has  a  committee  on 
the  instruction  of  youth,  with  the  well-known  Dr.  Oswald 
Dykes,  Richard  Roberts,  and  Dr.  Monro  Gibson  as  leading 
members.  Its  schools  are  using  chiefly  the  British  Standard 
Graded  Lessons,  elsewhere  described.  Its  membership  in 
Sunday-schools  is  upward  of  80,000. 

The  United  Free  Church  of  Scotland  conducts  its  Sabbath- 
school  work  through  a  Committee  of  Sixty,  which  approves  of, 
or  suggests,  courses  of  studies  and  reports  to  the  assembly  on 
its  2,300  Sabbath-schools  and  the  instruction  of  about  233,000 
pupils. 

The  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in  the  United  States  is 
the  child  of  the  Church  of  England,  and  continued  similar 
modes  of  instruction  here  for  the  youth  of  the  church.  In 
1788  Bishop  William  White  returned  from  England  to  Phila- 
delphia, impressed  with  the  Raikes  movement,  and,  though 
opposed  by  some  of  his  vestry,  cordially  joined  with  laymen  of 
non-liturgical  views  in  forming  the  First  Day,  or  Sunday- 
School  Society,  of  which  he  became  president.  This  was  to 
give  instruction  to  those  outside  the  church.  When  it  was 
proposed  to  form  the  "Sunday  and  Adult  School  Union"  in 
1817,  for  the  instruction  of  all,  whether  in  or  out  of  the  church, 
the  good  bishop  declined  to  join  it,  though  some  of  his  parish- 
ioners favored  the  project.  He,  however,  decidedly  preferred 
a  separate  denominational  organization  for  general  work, 
such  as  the  Philadelphia  Protestant  Episcopal  Sunday-School 


CONVENTIONS— SUNDAY-SCHOOL  WORK     385 

Society,  which  preceded  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Sunday- 
School  Union  of  1826.  Bishop  Whittingham,  later  of  Mary- 
land, was  the  active  leader  in  promoting  this  denominational 
religious  institution,  followed  by  Bishops  Alonzo  Potter,  G.  W. 
Doane,  and  by  Drs.  Stephen  H.  Tyng  and  Gregory  T.  Bedell. 
From  1835  until  after  the  Civil  War  various  discussions  ac- 
centuated the  divided  views  upon  the  principles  and  methods 
of  religious  education  in  the  church,  checking  the  progress  of 
any  united  Sunday-school  movement.  After  the  Civil  War 
George  C.  Thomas  was  active  in  promoting  a  local  Sunday- 
school  Society,  which  grew  into  the  American  Church  Sunday- 
School  Institute  in  1875,  enlarged  in  1884.  Of  this  society 
Rev.  Dr.  H.  L.  Duhring  became  the  efficient  secretary  and 
leader,  with  the  co-operation  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Richard  Newton, 
Rev.  Wm.  Thomas,  and  others.  It  began  to  issue  a  Sunday- 
school  magazine  in  1885,  and  a  complete  system  of  Diocesan 
Lessons  for  its  schools. 

The  New  York  Sunday-School  Commission  was  begun  in 
1898,  under  Bishop  Henry  C.  Potter,  followed  by  other  Dio- 
cesan appointments,  and  in  1904  by  a  " Joint  Commission"  on 
Sunday-school  instruction  which  led  to  the  organization  of  a 
General  Board  of  Religious  Education  in  1910.  This  board  is 
composed  of  bishops,  clergymen  and  laymen — seven  each — 
and  of  sixteen  other  members,  representing  a  Sunday-school 
commission;  the  object  being  the  unification  and  development 
of  religious  instruction  under  the  auspices  of  the  church.  It 
has  instituted  a  standard  course  of  teacher  training,  and  a 
correspondence  school  for  teachers,  and  set  forth  a  standard 
curriculum  not  confined,  however,  to  Sunday-schools.  Among 
those  active  in  developing  these  movements  in  the  church 
board  were  the  Rev.  W.  W.  Smith,  the  Rev.  William  S.  Gard- 
ner, Rev.  Lester  Bradner,  Ph.D.,  Rev.  Stanley  Kilbourne,  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Walker  Gwyne,  Bishop  Beckwith,  and  Dr.  Hayes. 
They  prepared  and  edited  several  courses  of  lessons  based  on 
the  Prayer  Book  and  the  Creed,  and  also  a  Graded  Series 
adapted  to  four  principal  departments:  Primary,  Junior,  Se- 
nior, and  Graduate  studies.  This  church  reports  upward  of 
500,000  membership  in  its  Sunday-schools. 

The  Reformed  Church  in  America  (Dutch)  claims  to  be  the 
oldest  body  of  the  Presbyterian  type  in  America,  founded  in 


386  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

1623-26.  It  formed  a  Sabbath  School  Union,  independent  of 
the  American  Sunday-School  Union  (with  which  it  co-oper- 
ated) in  1828,  which  was  changed  to  a  Board  in  1839,  and 
merged  into  the  Board  of  Publication  in  1863.  It  issues 
lessons  and  literature  for  its  800  Sunday-schools,  enrolling 
about  124,000  members. 

The  Reformed  Church  in  the  United  States  (German)  in 
1834,  by  "overture,"  requested  the  American  Sunday-School 
Union  to  propose  a  "Sunday-school  agent  to  assist  in  extend- 
ing that  work  in  her  churches."  A  Sabbath  School  Committee 
was  formed  in  the  denomination  in  1841,  followed  by  an  as- 
sociation in  1863,  and  a  distinct  Sunday-school  board  in  1887. 
In  1893  Dr.  Rufus  W.  Miller  was  chosen  secretary,  with  able 
members  of  the  church  co-operating  to  prosecute  religious 
education  in  church  schools.  This  began  a  new  era  of  sys- 
tematic, effective  service  in  every  phase  of  religious  education 
of  the  youth  of  the  church.  The  important  lines  of  work  are 
educational  and  missionary  and  the  editing  of  suitable  litera- 
ture. At  present  (1917)  they  are  providing  a  building  to  be 
used  as  the  church's  headquarters,  known  as  the  "SchafT 
Building,"  in  Philadelphia.  The  Rev.  Drs.  C.  Clever,  C.  A. 
Hauser,  and  J.  H.  Bomberger  are  among  the  widely  recognized 
workers  in  this  church. 

The  Denominational  Council. — About  thirty  or  more  of  the 
various  denominations,  through  representative  workers, 
formed  a  voluntary  organization  in  1910,  known  as  the 
"Sunday-school  Council  of  Evangelical  Denominations," 
which  seeks  to  promote  organized  denominational  Sunday- 
school  work  among  all  the  bodies  participating  in  it;  each 
denomination,  however,  reserving  the  right  to  modify  or 
change  any  approved  general  plans  that  may  be  deemed 
suitable  to  the  needs  and  conditions  of  the  respective  denom- 
inations. 

The  Sunday-School  Council  of  Evangelical  Denominations 
aims  to  advance  the  Sunday-school  interests  of  the  co-operat- 
ing denominations  in  three  ways:  by  conferring  together,  by 
giving  expression  to  common  views,  and  by  co-operative  ac- 
tion along  educational,  missionary,  editorial  and  publishing 
lines.  It  is  composed  of  representatives  from  about  thirty 
denominations.     It   gives   attention   to   the   preparation   of 


CONVENTIONS— SUNDAY-SCHOOL  WORK     387 

standard  courses  of  study  for  teachers,  but  leaves  the  prepara- 
tion of  the  material  for  these  courses  to  each  denomination; 
supervises  the  selection  of  lessons  for  Sunday-school  study,  and 
seeks  to  correlate  the  entire  work,  so  as  to  avoid  overlapping, 
yet  leaving  each  denomination  absolutely  free  in  the  conduct 
of  its  own  work.1 

A  Commission  on  Religious  Education  under  the  "Federal 
Council  of  the  Churches  of  Christ  in  America"  is  also  pursuing 
a  similar  work,  with  nearly  the  same  scope  and  purpose. 
If  continued  along  the  lines  projected  they  are  likely  to  overlap 
unless  they  are  consolidated.  These  agencies  are  also  urging 
upon  colleges  and  universities  special  departments  for  the 
training  of  Sunday-school  teachers  and  workers.  We  may 
reasonably  expect,  in  the  near  future,  a  great  advance  in  re- 
ligious education  through  these  competing  and  co-operating 
denominational  activities. 

Meanwhile,  the  many  schools,  widely  scattered  through  the 
outlying  country  districts,  where  the  people  speak  different 
dialects  and  where  not  more  than  two  or  three  families  hold 
the  same  religious  creeds,  and  no  church  is  practicable  to  be 
sustained  among  them,  and  often  none  is  near,  or  strong  enough 
to  attract  and  help  them,  this  multitude  of  schools  must  be 
encouraged,  their  teachers  trained,  and  leaders  developed, 
until  they  become  a  moral  and  religious  force,  for  the  better- 
ment of  the  secluded  communities  of  which  they  are  the 
natural  center,  and  a  power  for  the  spiritual  growth  of  the 
people,  as  servants  and  disciples  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

1  See  statement  of  Dr.  Webb,  Secretary,  June,  1916. 


SECTION  XII 


A   TWENTIETH   CENTURY   VIEW 


What  is  the  religious  condition  of  our  rural  communities  in 
the  twentieth  century?  What  are  the  material,  social,  edu- 
cational and  religious  demands  of  these  communities?  How 
can  they  be  properly  met?  How  can  higher  social,  moral  and 
religious  ideals  be  successfully  introduced  into  rural  life? 
What  influence  does  rural  have  on  city  life,  morally  and  re- 
ligiously? Numerous  commissions  and  organizations — gov- 
ernmental, federated,  interdenominational  and  denomina- 
tional— have  been  and  are  busy  in  "surveys"  to  aid  in  giving 
answers  to  these  questions. 

Rural  Conditions. — Since  the  opening  of  this  century  and 
during  a  period  of  twenty  years  (1897  to  1917)  the  American 
Sunday-School  Union  asked  these  questions.  It  further  asked 
how  it  could  concentrate  the  religious  forces  in  any  given  com- 
munity so  as  to  bring  rural  life  nearer  to  Christian  ideals. 
The  Society  enrolled,  among  its  managers  and  supporters, 
some  who  stood  in  the  front  rank  of  Christian  men  of  affairs 
and  some  who  were  also  eminent  for  their  scholarship  and  high 
Christian  ideals.  Among  its  officers  were  Morris  K.  Jesup,  its 
president;  Jay  Cooke,  William  E.  Dodge,  Homer  Merriam, 
Levi  Z.  Leiter,  Gen.  0.  O.  Howard,  Louis  Klopsch,  John  H. 
Converse,  Horace  B.  Silliman,  B.  B.  Comegys,  Thomas  Mur- 
dock,  William  H.  Wanamaker,  and  scores  of  others  of  nation- 
wide renown  as  Christian  citizens  and  patriots.  Under  their 
leadership  the  managers  undertook,  in  19Q0  and  on,  a  prolonged 
and  painstaking  re-examination  of  the  field,  the  basis,  the 
polity  and  the  methods  of  Sunday-school  service,  with  a  view 
to  discover,  if  possible,  how  it  could  be  more  closely  adapted  to 
existing  conditions  throughout  the  country.  Their  purpose 
was  to  secure  the  highest  efficiency  in  bringing  about  the 
betterment  of  rural  life;  producing  not  only  better  citizenship, 
but  a  high  type  of  Christianity. 
388 


A  TWENTIETH  CENTURY  VIEW  389 

Out  of  this  investigation  came  a  reaffirmation  of  the  general 
principles  outlined  by  the  founders  of  the  Society  and  a  resolu- 
tion for  an  aggressive  campaign  to  increase  the  distribution  of 
the  literature  and  to  enlarge  all  the  activities  of  the  American 
Sunday-School  Union.  In  the  view  of  President  Jesup  and  of 
other  officers  familiar  with  the  polity  of  religious  and  benevo- 
lent institutions,  it  was  announced  that  appeals  for  funds  for 
the  Union  should  be  made  to  include  all  branches  of  its  work. 
They  declared  the  aim  should  be  to  secure  general  funds  that 
could  be  applied  broadly  to  promote  the  best  interests  of  the 
great  cause  of  Sunday-schools. 

In  support  of  this  view  they  were  of  the  opinion  that  the 
time  might  come  when  it  would  be  found  that  large  funds 
limited  or  restricted  to  special  fields  and  to  special  work  could 
not  be  as  wisely  expended  as  now  to  promote  the  best  interests 
and  the  greatest  efficiency  in  religious  education.1  It  is  note- 
worthy also  that  the  Society  had  already  found  the  income  of 
two  small  funds  thus  limited  could  not  be  expended  wisely 
according  to  the  letter  stipulated  by  the  givers.  They  might 
be  used  in  accord  with  the  spirit  or  interest  implied  by  the 
givers.  Missionaries  were  to  be  employed  as  heretofore,  the 
Board  declared,  but  in  doing  this  appeals  for  other  important 
operations  of  the  Society  were  to  be  no  longer  sidetracked,  as 
they  had  of  necessity  been  during  the  debt-paying  period. 
Henceforward  the  Society  was  to  emphasize  the  broader  out- 
look of  the  founders.     This  the  managers  reaffirmed : 

We  believe  the  origin  and  objects  of  the  American  Sunday- 
School  Union  were  to  disseminate  useful  information,  circulate 
moral  and  religious  publications  in  every  part  of  the  land,  and 
endeavor  to  plant  a  Sunday-school  wherever  needed. 

Furthermore,  they  directed  that  "appeals  be  made  in  our  pub- 
lications and  through  our  missionaries  and  other  agents  for 
contributions  to  enable  the  Society  to  distribute  its  literature 
in  larger  amounts  and  at  lower  rates  to  the  needy." 

It  was  made  clear  to  the  board  from  this  inquiry  that  the 
basis  upon  which  the  Society  was  founded  was  evangelical, 
and  that  its  charter  was  broad  enough  to  justify  its  past,  pres- 
ent, and  any  probable  future  activities.    And  the  polity  which 

1  See  unpublished  letters  to  the  Editorial  Secretary,  1900-1905. 


390  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

had  grown  out  of  many  experiments  and  long  experience  was 
believed  to  represent  the  sense  of  the  great  body  of  its  life 
members  and  supporters. 

The  managers  were  made  well  aware  that  the  literature  and 
educational  work  which  had  been  happily  termed  the  "left 
arm"  of  the  Society  and  which  had  been  largely  sacrificed  to 
save  the  life  of  the  body,  ought  in  equity  and  business  pru- 
dence to  be  restored  by  a  fresh  campaign  in  its  behalf.  The 
publication  work,  having  never  been  conducted  upon  a  money- 
making  or  commercial  but  upon  a  benevolent  basis,  as  truly 
as  the  missionary  work,  should  be  put  in  a  position  to  do  its 
share  in  promoting  the  greatest  efficiency  in  Union  schools. 
This  was  in  perfect  harmony  with  the  earlier  purpose  of  the 
Society's  founders.  Its  literature  was  never  distributed  to 
the  public  by  its  missionaries  or  otherwise  at  a  profit,  but  often 
at  or  below  the  actual  cost  of  manufacture;  the  difference  being 
specially  provided  for  out  of  a  general  fund. 

While  the  literature  was  to  be  issued  on  a  benevolent  basis, 
it  was  the  Society's  polity  through  all  its  history  tot  have  the 
receipts  from  sales  and  for  the  distribution  of  literature  equal 
to  the  expense  of  issuing  it;  as  a  rule  calling  on  the  public  only 
for  such  contributions  as  were  required  to  pay  for  the  portion 
that  was  distributed  as  a  gift  to  the  needy.  To  aid  in  this  it 
was  a  part  of  the  Society's  polity  for  years  to  keep  the  manu- 
facturing expenses  at  the  lowest  point.  The  paper,  printing, 
and  binding  were  secured  by  competitive  bids  from  responsible 
houses,  required  to  furnish  a  standard  quality  at  the  lowest 
terms.  Further  to  maintain  this  polity,  the  catalogs  of  the 
Society's  literature  had  been  rigidly  scanned  from  time  to  time 
to  bring  the  stock  on  hand  within  the  lowest  market  values. 
But  as  often  noted  heretofore  extension  made  it  impossible 
always  to  maintain  its  polity,  or  fitly  to  carry  out  its  rules 
and  words. 

New  channels  and  methods  of  circulation  had  been  sought. 
The  best  ways  of  supplying  American  colonies  had  been  con- 
sidered. Ways  and  means  for  increasing  the  Society's  general 
fund,  including  the  distribution  of  literature  to  those  unable 
to  purchase,  had  been  sought  and  adopted,  so  that  this  action 
of  the  opening  century  was  only  a  repetition  of  the  real  purpose 
of  the  managers,  although  not  always  heretofore  realized. 


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A  TWENTIETH  CENTURY  VIEW  391 

In  accordance  with  these  views  and  this  action,  among  other 
measures  it  was  suggested  that  a  competent  and  foremost 
financial  representative,  recognized  as  a  leader  in  this  broad 
educational  service,  be  looked  for;  one  who  could  command 
the  attention  of  philanthropists  and  educators,  as  well  as  of 
large  audiences  throughout  the  country  by  a  presentation  of 
the  broad  purpose  of  the  American  Sunday-school  and  of 
religious  education,  indicating  its  relation  to  other  great  relig- 
ious institutions,  while  pointing  out  the  special  field  for  which 
God  in  his  providence  had  seemed  to  raise  up  this  Society.  A 
Christian  educator  of  such  talents,  it  was  quite  clear,  would  not 
be  easily  found,  and  when  found  would  doubtless  have  a  dozen 
calls  in  other  directions.  But  it  was  believed  that  the  im- 
mense field  for  such  service  and  the  importance  of  it  would 
appeal  to  someone  whose  training  and  education  had  qualified 
him  for  such  a  nation-wide  work. 

Evangelical  Literature. — A  glimpse  at  the  conditions  of 
rural  Christianity  in  America  and  elsewhere  at  the  beginning 
of  the  century  revealed  the  importance  of  these  measures. 
To  note  a  single  feature — the  distribution  of  evangelical  liter- 
ature— in  the  last  decade  of  the  last  century  the  total  distri- 
bution of  the  Union's  publications  from  Philadelphia,  exclus- 
ive of  New  York,  had  resulted  in  a  margin  of  gains  eight  years 
out  of  the  ten;  the  net  gain  for  the  ten  years  being  about 
$33,000,  which  was  expended  in  the  improvement  of  its  liter- 
ature. This  was  a  decided  financial  improvement  in  the  busi- 
ness over  previous  decades  for  fifty  years.  But  the  improve- 
ment in  usefulness  was  not  so  apparent,  for  the  volume  or  bulk 
of  literature  issued  by  the  Union  was  steadily  decreasing  in 
face  of  constantly  lower  prices.  A  similar  fluctuation  was 
shown  by  other  leading  religious  societies,  notably  by  the 
Religious  Tract  Society  of  London,  whose  output  of  evangel- 
ical literature  is  the  largest  of  its  kind  in  the  world.  During 
the  same  closing  decade  of  the  last  century  its  sales  fell  off 
fully  one-third  in  amount;  in  1889  being  163,000  pounds  and 
in  1899,  109,000  pounds.  In  like  manner  the  volume  of  its 
distribution  of  publications  decreased  in  the  last  seven  years  of 
that  period  from  50,000,000  copies  annually  to  39,000,000 
copies.  The  reasons  assigned  for  this  fluctuation  were  various, 
among  them  the  fact  that  the  people  did  not  want  to  hear  of 


392  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

sin  and  salvation.  They  might  need  to  know  it,  but  they 
wanted  not  evangelism,  but  "culturism."  They  might  be 
persuaded  to  read  such  literature  if  it  were  attractive  and 
furnished  to  them  at  a  nominal  price. 

Referring  to  the  broader  view  of  the  Society's  work,  the 
managers  in  their  report  for  1904  took  note  of  the  change  of 
name  of  the  Society  in  1824  from  the  Sunday  and  Adult  School 
Union  to  the  American  Sunday-School  Union.  The  earlier 
name,  they  say,  indicated  that  the  founders  were  chiefly  in 
Philadelphia  and  vicinity;  yet  the  field  of  operations  was  never 
so  limited,  but  quickly  extended  to  all  the  states  of  the  Union. 
The  new  name  " American"  implied  that  it  was  a  combination 
of  supporters  throughout  the  nation,  but  it  was  not  intended  to 
restrict  the  work  of  the  Society  to  America.  While  it  was 
natural  that  the  work  should  begin  at  home,  it  was  not  the 
idea  of  the  founders  that  it  should  be  confined  to  the  United 
States.  This  is  clear  from  the  earlier  reports  which  give  a  view 
of  the  progress  of  the  work  not  merely  in  every  state  of  the 
Union,  but  in  British  America,  South  America,  the  West  Indies, 
Europe,  Asia,  Africa,  and  the  islands  of  the  sea.  Repeatedly 
the  Society  extended  a  helping  hand  to  workers  in  different 
parts  of  the  world  diffusing  religious  instruction.  In  the 
middle  of  the  last  century  it  maintained  missionaries  in  upper 
and  lower  Canada  and  in  other  portions  of  the  British  domin- 
ions in  America,  and  later  it  aided  in  establishing  schools  on 
the  continent  of  Europe. 

In  view  of  this  drift  and  these  measures  the  Union  stated  in 
1901  that  it  should  have  $20,000  a  year  to  meet  ordinary  calls 
for  literature  and  $50,000  for  properly  supplying  rural  districts.1 
The  next  year  the  Society  stated  that  the  rural  population 
wanted  free  libraries  and  other  literature;  that  it  had  received 
through  Editorial  Secretary  Rice  a  gift  of  $27,000  for  this 
purpose,  in  addition  to  $20,000  received  through  the  same 
channel  shortly  before.  Moreover,  upward  of  $30,000  more 
were  added  to  funds  for  permanent  investment  that  year.2 
And  the  following  year  upward  of  $100,000  were  received  from 
eight  or  ten  donors  for  similar  permanent  investments,  in  ad- 
dition to  what  was  given  for  current  work.3  So  that  in  five 
years  from  this  announcement  (1901-1906)  upward  of  $240,000 

I  Report,  1901,  p.  10.  *  Report,  1902,  pp.  8,  9.  •  Report,  1903,  pp.  14,  15. 


A  TWENTIETH  CENTURY  VIEW  393 

were  received  (besides  contributions  for  current  work),  to  be 
added  to  the  invested  funds  of  the  Society.  Soon  after  the 
Lowry  bequest  of  SI  10,000  was  received,  due  largely  to  the 
tactful  information  and  courtesy  of  a  faithful  saleswoman 
(Sarah  Andrews)  in  the  Union's  bookshop.  This  proved  that 
the  friends  of  the  Society  were  ready  to  sustain  it  in  the 
broader  work  which  it  proposed  as  fast  as  it  showed  the  ability 
to  perform  it.  Many  other  generous  bequests  were  received, 
as  noted  in  the  section  on  Finances. 

United  States  Commission. — Some  sidelight  was  thrown 
upon  the  moral  and  religious  conditions  existing  in  the  rural 
communities  of  the  country  at  the  opening  of  the  century  by  a 
governmental  country  life  commission.  While  the  chief  in- 
quiries of  this  commission  related  to  the  economic  and  financial 
conditions  of  farm  life  in  the  United  States,  some  glimpses  at 
the  moral  and  religious  conditions  were  reported.  The  atti- 
tude of  the  Commission  was  friendly  and  favorable  to  the  pro- 
motion of  the  highest  spiritual  interest  of  the  people,  as  the 
following  extracts  will  amply  show. 

In  a  special  message  transmitting  the  report  President 
Roosevelt,  in  1909,  clearly  indicated  its  character  and  scope. 
To  gain  this  information  the  Commission  held  thirty  public 
hearings  attended  by  farmers  and  farmers'  wives  from  forty 
states  and  territories.  One  hundred  and  twenty  thousand 
answers  to  questions  sent  out  by  the  Commission  were  also 
collated. 

Of  the  conditions,  deficiencies  and  remedies  relating  to  the 
great  problem  of  betterment  of  country  life,  including  educa- 
tion, the  Commission  had  much  to  say.  On  the  moral  and 
religious  problem  of  spiritual  forces  the  Commission  declared  : 

We  miss  the  heart  of  the  problem  if  we  neglect  to  foster 
personal  character  and  neighborhood  righteousness.  The  best 
way  to  preserve  ideals  for  private  conduct  and  public  life  is  to 
build  up  the  institutions  of  religion.  .  .  .  The  whole  people 
should  understand  that  it  is  vitally  important  to  stand  behind 
the  rural  church  and  to  help  it  to  become  a  great  power  in  de- 
veloping concrete  country  life  ideals. 

The  Commission  recommended  conferences  on  rural  progress 

designed  to  unite  the  interests  of  education,  organization,  and 
religion   into   one   forward   movement   for   the   rebuilding   of 


394  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

country  life.  Rural  teachers,  librarians,  clergymen,  editors, 
physicians,  and  others  may  well  unite  with  farmers  in  study- 
ing and  discussing  the  rural  question  in  all  its  aspects.  We 
must,  in  some  way,  unite  all  institutions,  all  organizations,  all 
individuals  having  any  interest  in  country  life  into  one  great 
campaign  for  rural  progress. 

The  difficulties  in  the  moral  and  religious  part  of  the  prob- 
lem the  Commission  thus  describes: 

We  have  farmers  from  every  European  nation,  and  with 
every  phase  of  religious  belief  often  grouped  in  large  com- 
munities, naturally  drawn  together  by  a  common  language 
and  a  common  faith,  and  yielding  but  slowly  to  the  dominating 
and  controlling  forces  of  American  farm  life.  To  this  diversity 
in  language  and  religion  must  be  added  the  peculiar  character 
which  the  farmer  develops  in  himself.  The  training  of  genera- 
tions has  made  him  a  strong  individualist,  and  he  has  been 
obliged  to  rely  mainly  on  himself.  Self-reliance  being  the 
essence  of  his  nature,  he  does  not  at  once  feel  the  need  of  co- 
operation for  business  purposes  or  of  close  association  for  social 
objects.  ...  He  does  not,  as  a  rule,  dream  of  a  rural  organiza- 
tion that  can  supply  as  completely  as  the  city  the  four  great 
requirements  of  man — health,  education,  occupation,  society. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  is  said,  "the  centralized  agencies  should 
be  stimulative  and  directive,  rather  than  mandatory  and  for- 
mal. Every  effort  must  be  made  to  develop  native  resources, 
not  only  of  material  things  but  also  of  people." 

Of  public  education  in  the  rural  districts  the  Commission 
affirmed : 

The  schools  are  held  to  be  largely  responsible  for  ineffective 
farming,  lack  of  ideals,  and  the  drift  to  town.  This  is  not  because 
the  rural  schools,  as  a  whole,  are  declining,  but  because  they  are 
in  a  state  of  arrested  development  and  have  not  yet  put  them- 
selves in  consonance  with  all  the  recently  changed  conditions  of 
life.  .  .  .  The  most  necessary  thing  now  to  be  done  for  public- 
school  education  in  terms  of  country  life  is  to  arouse  all  the 
people  to  the  necessity  of  such  education,  to  co-ordinate  the 
forces  that  are  beginning  to  operate,  and  to  project  the  work 
beyond  the  schools  for  youth  into  continuation  schools  for 
adults: 

In  reconstructive  work  the  Commission  urges  : 

It  is  of  the  greatest  consequence  that  the  people  of  the  open 
country  should  loarn  to  work  together.  This  is  applied  to 
economic  conditions  of  buying  and  selling,  of  good  roads, 
better  homes,  transportation,  rural  delivery,  telephones,  bet- 


A  TWENTIETH  CENTURY  VIEW  395 

terment  in  household  appliances,  running  water,  and  what- 
ever makes  not  only  for  the  physical  comfort  of  the  rural  com- 
munity and  home,  but  also  whatever  will  be  helpful  to  progress 
in  knowledge,  in  morals,  and  in  religion,  for  the  whole  com- 
munity. 

The  rural  church  must  take  a  larger  leadership,  both  as  an  in- 
stitution and  through  its  pastors,  in  the  social  reorganization 
of  rural  life. 

Here  the  Commission  was  confronted  with  almost  insuper- 
able special  obstacles  which  it  points  out : 

As  a  rule,  the  country  people  are  conservative.  Ordinarily 
the  financial  support  is  inadequate.  Often  there  are  too  many 
churches  in  a  given  community.  Sectarian  ideas  divide  unduly 
and  unfortunately.  .  .  .  Few  of  the  churches  in  the  open 
country  are  provided  with  resident  pastors.  .  .  .  Most  of  the 
gatherings  are  designed  for  the  church  people  themselves  rather 
than  for  the  community.  The  range  of  social  influence  is  there- 
fore generally  restricted  to  the  families  particularly  related  to 
the  special  church  organization,  and  there  is  likely  to  be  no  sense 
of  social  responsibility  for  the  entire  community.  .  .  . 

It  hardly  seems  necessary  to  urge  that  the  spirit  of  co-operation 
among  churches,  the  diminution  of  sectarian  strife,  the  attempt 
to  reach  the  entire  community,  must  become  the  guiding  princi- 
ples everywhere  if  the  rural  church  is  long  to  retain  its  hold. 

The  Commission  recognized  that  to  apply  any  remedy  suc- 
cessfully and  to  secure  adequate  leadership  the  voluntary  prin- 
ciple, which  underlies  the  Sunday-school  movement,  must  be 
introduced  and  adopted.  Thus  the  Commission  affirms: 
"Everything  resolves  itself  at  the  end  into  a  question  of  per- 
sonality. Society  or  government  cannot  do  much  for  country 
life  unless  there  is  a  voluntary  response  in  the  personal  ideals  of 
those  who  live  in  the  country. 

As  a  forerunner  and  pioneer  of  the  churches,  and  as  repre- 
senting the  great  body  of  the  Christian  people  of  the  country, 
the  Union  Sunday-school  has  been  an  economic  and  effective 
scouting  organization — a  pioneer  and  leader  preparing  the  way 
for  the  larger  coming  of  the  Kingdom.  It  has  been  working  for 
over  a  century  upon  the  principles  of  co-operation  and  volun- 
tary service  so  strongly  emphasized  by  this  governmental 
Commission. 

Twentieth  Century  Plans. — In  a  territory  so  vast  as  the 
United  States,  into  which  teeming  millions  crowded  from  every 
quarter  of  the  earth  so  that  the  republic  suddenly  sprang  into  a 
world-wide  power,  the  conditions  were  too  varied  for  a  score  of 


396  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

persons  alone  to  survey.  The  problem  called  for  as  great  a 
variety  of  expert  training  and  observation  as  there  were  differ- 
ent sections  in  the  Union.  The  Society  had  investigations  by 
special  field  workers  who  had  gathered  a  mass  of  information — 
the  result  of  minute  surveys  of  hundreds  of  communities  in 
different  sections  of  the  country.  This  mass  of  accumulated 
facts  was  intelligently  sifted  and  presented  in  carefully  pre- 
pared papers  by  leaders  representing  the  various  districts  or 
sections  of  the  country  at  the  "Diamond  Anniversary"  of 
the  Society  under  its  present  name  (the  82d  from  its  origin), 
together  with  a  similar  collation  of  facts  presented  by  national 
workers  in  allied  and  co-operative  organizations  engaged  in 
promoting  Bible  instruction  throughout  the  country. 

The  present  generation  cannot  easily  realize  the  marvelous 
territorial  expansion  of  the  United  States  in  a  century.  When 
the  Sunday-School  Union  started,  the  inhabited  part  of  the 
country  covered  only  a  little  corner  of  the  extreme  east  and  a 
narrow  fringe  along  the  Atlantic  Coast.  With  the  opening  of 
the  twentieth  century  that  territory  had  expanded  so  that  it 
reached  from  the  St.  Lawrence  on  the  north  to  the  Florida 
Keys  and  the  Rio  Grande  on  the  south,  and  from  the  Atlantic 
coast  to  the  Pacific,  and  shot  upward  in  the  northwest,  like  the 
Aurora  Borealis,  to  the  Aleutian  Islands.  The  population 
which  was  less  than  10,000,000  at  the  origin  of  the  Union  had 
become  well-nigh  100,000,000  at  the  opening  of  the  century. 

The  character  of  this  flowing  tide  of  migration  into  the 
Middle  and  great  West  was  as  varied  as  the  countries  from 
which  the  immigrants  came.  Roughly,  they  might  be  divided 
into  two  great  classes:  one  sought  wealth  and  personal  glory; 
the  other,  with  thrift,  sought  to  be  helpful  to  others  and  to 
promote  a  noble  type  of  Christian  character.  This  surprising 
change  in  our  republic  was  graphically  sketched  in  an  eloquent 
speech  by  William  E.  Dodge,  a  vice-president  of  the  Society. 
Referring  to  the  origin  of  the  Sunday-School  Union,  he  said: 

What  was  this  country  then?  A  fringe  of  population  along 
the  Atlantic  seaboard  of  the  colonies  almost  entirely  failing  in 
understanding  each  other,  the  primitive  modes  of  conveyance 
making  it  difficult  to  get  from  one  part  to  the  other;  not  con- 
solidated, not  fully  understanding  the  splendid  future  before  it, 
and  waiting  for  the  providence  which  has  led  it  so  wonderfully 
ever  since.    Shortly  after  the  beginning  of  our  country's  life  hardy 


A  TWENTIETH  CENTURY  VIEW  397 

pioneers,  splendid  fellows,  the  very  pick  of  our  eastern  popula- 
tion, began  to  press  into  the  wilderness  and  to  make  homes  for 
themselves.  They  plunged  into  the  forest,  they  cut  down 
great  trees,  they  ran  risks  from  the  Indians  and  from  wild 
beasts,  and  they  fought  splendidly  to  make  homes  and  a  new 
civilization  in  the  wilderness.  And  that  process  went  on,  and 
they  made  a  strong,  vigorous  onslaught  on  the  interior  of  the 
country  until  they  reached  the  Alleghenies,  and  crossed  them 
and  went  down  the  Ohio  and  around  the  great  lakes,  and  crossed 
the  Mississippi  and  the  plains  to  the  foot-hills  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains;  they  passed  through  its  defiles  until  they  came  to 
the  Western  Sea,  where  the  three  great  Western  States,  which 
have  so  much  meaning  for  the  future,  he  against  the  Pacific 
Ocean  now.  .  .  . 

Schoolhouses  were  carefully  built,  and  the  traditions  and 
religious  questions  from  time  to  time  discussed  in  these  simple 
communities.  Then  it  was  that  these  sweet-hearted,  strong, 
wise,  and  tactful  missionaries  of  the  Sunday-School  Union 
began  their  work.  Going  quietly  into  these  little  settlements, 
they  gathered  the  mothers  and  fathers  together,  stirred  up  and 
rekindled  the  flame  of  Christian  life  and  memory,  and  brought 
them  together  in  their  little  Sunday-schools,  in  their  homes, 
and,  if  there  were  no  schoolhouses  to  be  had,  under  the  trees  and 
under  the  stars.  The  dear  old  Bible  was  brought  out,  and  the 
hymns  that  were  remembered  from  home  were  sung,  and  Christ 
was  there  with  his  love  and  tenderness,  and  the  germs  of  relig- 
ion were  planted  there.  They  grew,  as  the  settlement  grew, 
into  churches,  and  they  are  now  the  strongest  and  most  vigorous 
in  all  the  various  denominations  of  the  whole  country;  and  that 
was  followed  out  all  the  way  through  this  wonderful  expansion. 
.  .  .  We  never  shall  know  what  we  owe  to  these  pioneer  mis- 
sionaries, just  as  we  shall  never  quite  understand  what  we  owe 
the  pioneers  of  civilization  who  carried  the  torch  of  American 
liberty  and  freedom  through  this  whole  great  land  of  ours. 

In  this  initial  work,  where  you  go  among  a  primitive  and  small 
population,  you  meet  sectarian  influence.  It  is  hard  enough  to 
carry  the  spirit  of  the  Sunday-school  and  the  spirit  of  the  church, 
of  any  kind  of  religious  work,  among  this  simple  people,  but  if 
you  handicap  it  by  sectarian  bias  you  are  making  it  very  much 
harder,  and  I  thank  God  with  all  my  heart  that  this  Society 
continues  now,  as  it  always  has,  to  bring  simply  Christ  and  God's 
Word  to  a  simple  people,  as  the  one  thing  that  can  make  their 
lives  sweeter,  better,  and  more  helpful  to  the  whole  community.1 

Of  the  sacrifices  in  this  work,  Morris  K.  Jesup  of  New  York 
feelingly  declared:  "Little  do  you  know — little  do  I  know — of 
the  sacrifices  that  these  good  men  are  making  out  on  the  plains 
of  the  W^est  and  of  the  South ;  of  their  privations,  their  poverty, 
and  all  that  they  do  in  the  service  of  the  blessed  Master,  that 
His  name  may  be  carried  to  those  who  otherwise,  perhaps, 
would  not  hear  of  it."  2 

i  Anniversary  Report,  1899,  pp.  86-88.  *  Ibid.,  p.  81. 


398  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

The  problem  confronting  the  Union  and  its  missionaries  in 
the  pioneer  settlements  of  the  Middle  West  was  vividly  por- 
trayed by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Newell  Dwight  Hillis — himself  a  native 
of  Nebraska  and  once  a  scholar  in  one  of  the  Sunday-schools  of 
the  Union — in  an  impassioned  speech : 

It  has  been  my  fortune  to  spend  most  of  my  career  in  the 
West.  I  know  its  people,  its  institutions,  its  homes,  its  churches. 
I  know  something  of  its  rapid  growth  in  population  and  in 
wealth — a  growth  that  gives  promise  of  a  mighty  empire,  and 
I  know  also  that  there  is  no  institution  that  has  done  more  for 
the  instruction  of  our  children  and  our  youth  in  the  remote 
rural  districts  than  Union  missionaries,  who  are  literally  our 
springs  of  liberty  and  architects  of  civilization. 

When  we  study  the  career  of  the  great  men  in  our  cities  we 
find  that  the  leaders  are  country-born,  country-bred,  and  village 
raised.  .  .  .  A  recent  canvass  of  one  hundred  prominent  men  in  a 
metropolis  showed  that  85  per  cent,  of  lawyers,  bankers,  journal- 
ists, and  merchants  had  been  brought  up  either  upon  a  farm  or 
in  a  country  town. 

So  you  will  find  that  the  great  rural  districts  of  the  West,  to 
which  foreign  populations  are  going,  are  the  places  that  are 
rearing  our  leaders,  and  this  is  the  work  of  the  missionaries  from 
this  Society. 

Men  in  this  part  of  the  country  (East)  do  not  understand  the 
problem  at  all,  as  to  what  is  going  on  in  the  West,  until  they 
have  gone  there,  as  I  have,  and  journeyed  for  a  day  and  night 
through  the  great  corn  belt  of  Iowa,  and  another  day  and  night 
through  the  great  Red  River  wheat  country,  and  then  have  gone 
on  to  the  foothills  of  the  great  mountains,  rich  in  minerals,  full 
of  treasures,  which  are  the  gift  of  God  to  man.  Following  one  of 
these  lines,  as  I  did  myself,  and  spending  a  year  and  a  half  of  the 
happiest  of  my  life  as  a  missionary  for  the  Sunday-School  Union, 
you  see  homes  spring  up  as  if  by  magic.  Going  out  to  the  end 
of  the  little  railway,  I  saw  the  farmers  and  settlers  pushing  on 
with  their  teams  into  the  country,  traveling  for  a  week  at  a 
time  until  they  came  to  their  destined  point;  thirty  or  forty 
families,  including  perhaps  three  or  four  Presbyterians,  four  or 
five  Baptists,  and  three  or  four  Methodists.  At  a  central  point 
they  all  come  together,  build  a  little  schoolhouse,  and,  clubbing 
together,  they  hire  a  teacher  for  their  children.  With  half  a 
dozen  denominations  represented  in  the  forty  or  more  families,  it 
is  obviously  impossible  to  found  a  denominational  Sunday-school, 
but  it  is  easy  to  sustain  a  Union  Bible  school.  This  Union 
school  is  their  social,  literary,  and  religious  center,  their  college, 
their  university.  The  missionary  purchases  for  them  a  circulat- 
ing library,  he  founds  their  literary  club,  he  helps  them  in  a 
scries  of  meetings.  During  their  long  winter  nights  they  get 
together  in  their  religious  meetings,  and  I  have  seen  such  a 
revival  as  we  road  of  in  the  days  of  Finney  and  of  Moody. 
Literally  the  whole  community  was  touched  and  regenerated  by 
the  breath  of  God. 

Here  is  the  basis  for  the  movement  that  will  be  a  power  in  the 


A  TWENTIETH  CENTURY  VIEW  399 

work  of  the  church  of  Jesus  Christ.  And  this  is  the  work  of  the 
Society.  This  is  the  nature  of  its  influence,  and  this  is  its  rela- 
tion to  our  great  civilization. 

Of  the  changes  in  character  which  it  accomplishes  he  gave 
this  characteristic  illustration: 

One  woman  was  asked  how  she  brought  up  her  boys,  and  she 
replied,  "In  the  fear  of  ,the  Lord  and  of  the  horsewhip."  A  far 
better  method  was  started  among  these  people  by  the  teaching 
of  the  Sunday-school,  so  that  foreign  people  are  Americanized 
and  Christianized,  and  all  become  good  citizens,  scarcely  under- 
standing at  first  the  spirit  in  which  it  is  accomplished.  .  .  . 
There  is  no  institution  in  the  West  doing  so  much  for  church  unity, 
and  there  is  no  institution  in  the  West  doing  so  much  to  save  the 
Sunday  to  the  great  West,  as  the  American  Sunday-School  Union.1 

The  Sunday-School  Union  Not  Building  for  Itself. — More- 
over, the  American  Sunday-School  Union  is  eminently  Christ- 
like in  that  it  aims  to  do  good  to  all  men,  and  especially  to  the 
young.  It  lays  the  foundation  for  multitudes  of  churches,  not 
of  any  one  denomination,  but  of  every  evangelical  faith.  It 
brings  the  gospel  to  all  alike,  and  whenever  those  whom  it 
instructs  become  followers  of  Christ,  it  leaves  them  to  unite  in 
or  with  any  local  church  of  whatever  evangelical  creed  they 
may  prefer.  Thus  its  work  strengthens  all  denominations. 
It  erects  no  church  of  its  own.  This  point  was  forcibly  stated 
by  Superintendent  F.  G.  Ensign  of  Chicago: 

Keep  in  mind  that  this  Society  builds  nothing  for  itself.  All 
its  labor  has  been  for  the  building  of  the  churches,  and  strength- 
ening the  nation.  Its  work  stands  out  as  one  of  the  bright  lights 
in  the  moral  horizon  of  the  nineteenth  century.  It  has  built 
no  monuments  of  marble.  No  part  of  its  fund  has  been  hidden  in 
temples  of  stone — only  upon  the  imperishable  tablets  of  human 
hearts  has  it  made  its  records.  This  it  will  continue  to  do  until 
the  end  of  this  era.  Its  instruments  are  the  Word  of  God  and  the 
living  missionary;  and  its  field  of  operation  is  the  children  and 
youth,  and  the  homes  in  the  neglected  settlements  of  our  beloved 
land,  and  in  the  rural  districts  from  which  75  per  cent,  of  the  men 
and  women  of  power  and  influence  in  the  church  and  nation  are 
to  come  in  the  future  as  in  the  past.2 

Confirming  this  statement,  the  Society  during  the  previous 
decade  reported  69,988  professed  conversions,  besides  many 
more  who  had  been  led  to  Christ  in  its  schools,  of  which  no 
report  had  been  made.     These  had  gone  into  the  churches  and, 

1  Anniversary  Report,  1899,  pp.  96-98.  *  Ibid.,  p.  91. 


400  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

in  communities  where  there  was  sufficient  strength,  into  new 
churches,  which  had  been  the  case  in  1,359  places. 

Of  the  outlook  for  the  Union  in  the  twentieth  century  Mr. 
Ensign  impressively  affirmed: 

This  Society  occupies  one  of  the  ripest  mission  fields  in  the 
world,  and  its  work  reinforces  every  church  and  missionary 
society.  It  fortifies  every  good  institution,  and  strengthens  the 
government  in  every  advance  toward  righteousness  and  justice 
and  the  preservation  of  the  rights  of  the  common  people.1 

Furthermore,  it  was  made  clear  that  the  splendid  achieve- 
ments of  the  past  were  a  wonderful  inspiration  for  accomplish- 
ing greater  things  in  the  twentieth  century.  This  was  admir- 
ably and  vigorously  set  forth  in  a  brief  but  fervent  testimony 
by  H.  Clay  Trumbull,  a  Christian  worker  of  national  fame. 
His  surveys  and  observations  not  merely  covered  New  Eng- 
land and  the  East,  but  extended  to  nearly  every  state  in  the 
Union,  from  Maine  to  California  and  from  Minnesota  to 
Florida.  Speaking  of  his  lifelong  service  in  religious  education 
with  this  Society  and  other  institutions,  he  tersely  asserted  : 

In  view  of  these  experiences  and  of  my  special  historical 
studies  since  then,  I  desire  to  speak  with  emphasis  and  earnest- 
ness of  our  indebtedness  in  this  country  to  the  idea  and  agency 
represented  by  this  Society,  for  most  of  what  we  have  in  our 
peculiar  civilization,  and  of  our  social,  moral  and  religious  pros- 
perity among  the  nations  of  the  earth; 

Of  the  problem  of  immigration  he  added: 

With  all  the  various  nationalities  and  the  multiplied  phases 
of  religion  and  of  irreligion  represented  in  the  horde  of  new- 
comers to  our  land,  from  the  older  countries  of  Europe,  Asia,  and 
Africa;  swarming  as  they  swarm  to  our  shores,  and  packing  more 
closely  our  closely  packed  cities,  and  moving  out  on  our  borders 
with  the  advancing  wave  of  population,  there  would  be  small 
prospect  or  hope  of  winning  to  Christianity  every  new  neighbor- 
hood thus  formed,  through  pulpit  efforts  in  behalf  of  non-church- 
going  parents,  in  godless  households,  or  through  the  printed 
page  addressed  to  those  who  either  cannot  or  will  not  read  what 
is  designed  for  their  benefit.  The  one  feasible,  the  one  hopeful 
way  is  by  winning  the  children,  and  those  who  would  be  as 
children,  in  an  undenominational  neighborhood  Sunday-school. 
From  this  beginning  there  comes  a  readiness  and  a  desire  for 
<>t  her  agencies  and  then  the  field  is  ripe  for  a  missionary  preacher 
of  one  denomination  or  another.  A  congregation  is  gathered,  a 
church  or  churches  follow  in  due  order.* 

1  Anniversary  Report,  1899,  p.  93.  *  Ibid.,  pp.  69,  70. 


A  TWENTIETH  CENTURY  VIEW  401 

Surveys  by  Sections. — The  Union  did  not  content  itself  with 
general  statements  and  surveys  of  the  country  as  a  whole. 
The  managers  diligently  sought  for  specific  information  in 
regard  to  each  of  the  great  sections.  The  republic  had  become 
too  vast  in  its  territory,  and  the  population  too  varied  in 
language,  in  race,  in  occupations  and  in  religion  to  be  taken  in 
at  one  view.  Each  section  had  problems  peculiar  to  itself. 
The  elements  of  these  problems  must  be  ascertained,  care- 
fully considered  and  weighed,  and  measures  adopted  for  effi- 
ciently meeting  their  respective  needs.  Thus  in  the  New 
England,  the  Middle  Atlantic,  and  the  Middle  Western  States 
immigration  brought  increasing  diversity  of  the  population,  in 
language,  in  religion  and  in  social  and  economic  conditions 
that  must  be  carefully  and  wisely  blended  for  peaceful  homo- 
geniety  and  good  citizenship. 

In  the  great  section  of  the  South  Atlantic  and  Gulf  States 
the  racial  problem  continued  vexatious  and  very  complex. 
Even  the  white  races  are  not  homogeneous.  There  are  the 
mountaineers  or  highlanders  in  the  very  heart  of  that  section, 
a  hardy,  naturally  hospitable,  home-loving  race,  of  noble 
ancestry.  Denied  means  of  public  worship  because  of  the 
rough,  mountainous,  sparsely  settled  country,  they  became 
indifferent  to  religion.  In  the  lower  strata  is  another  class  of 
"crackers"  and  "sand-hillers."  These  classes,  with  the  better 
conditioned  portion  of  the  white  race,  are  inextricably  mixed, 
dwelling  also  with  an  increasing  negro  population,  making  the 
most  difficult  problem  of  our  American  life.  These  diverse 
peoples  and  races,  living  in  the  same  section  as  they  have  for 
generations,  must  somehow  find  the  way  to  dwell  peaceably 
side  by  side  in  the  same  nation  and  under  the  same  laws. 
Each  must  contribute  its  quota  of  support  toward  the  making 
of  a  prosperous  and  virtuous  community. 

In  the  Rocky  Mountains  and  Pacific  Coast — a  great  section 
— are  also  peculiar  problems.  The  red  men  and  the  yellow 
men  and  the  white  men  settle  side  by  side,  and  the  problem 
there,  as  in  other  sections,  is  to  find  a  way  by  which  these 
varied  races,  so  far  as  they  come  to  this  country  as  residents, 
may  be  absorbed,  assimilated,  Americanized,  and  Christian- 
ized. 

Here  are  problems  as  difficult  as  they  are  abundant  which 


402  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

the  American  Sunday-School  Union  should  aid  the  Christian 
patriot  in  solving,  especially  for  those  scattered  widely  through- 
out the  country  and  denominated  "the  rural  population"  of 
our  republic. 

Our  concern  relates  not  so  much,  primarily,  to  the  economic 
or  the  material  phases  of  the  problem  as  to  discover  some 
efficient  plan  for  the  moral  and  religious  elevation  of  these 
various  peoples.  Furthermore,  the  conditions  of  the  problem 
in  any  particular  section  are  constantly  changing.  The  his- 
torian should  honestly  report  the  surveys  and  information 
furnished  by  competent  observers  of  the  conditions  that 
existed  at  the  opening  of  the  century.  He  is  not  required  to 
prove  that  there  were  no  exceptions  to  these  statements; 
for  it  is  quite  likely  that  the  exceptions  would  be  held  by  the 
original  investigators  to  prove  the  rule. 

At  the  Anniversary  in  1899  a  mammoth  map  of  the  United 
States  was  exhibited,  depicting  the  eight  districts  into  which 
the  country  was  then  divided  by  the  American  Sunday- 
School  Union  for  its  missionary  work;  each  district  having  a 
superintendent.  These  districts  were  shown  in  different  colors, 
presenting  their  extent  and  character  to  the  eye.  In  each  state 
there  were  figures  showing  the  number  of  children  in  Sunday- 
school,  and  the  percentage  of  the  entire  population  under  Bible 
instruction.  This  map  was  compiled  by  the  Society  under  the 
supervision  of  E.  B.  Stevenson,  and  was  a  telling  object  lesson 
at  the  Anniversary. 

Thus  it  was  shown  that  the  percentage  of  Sunday-school 
membership  for  the  whole  United  States  was  17.4;  Pennsyl- 
vania, 21.9;  Colorado,  7.7;  Utah,  3.3;  etc. — the  latest  facts  ac- 
cessible in  regard  to  every  state  being  noted  thereon  in  conspic- 
uous figures. 

New  England  and  Oldest  Sections. — Rev.  Dr.  Addison  P. 
Foster,  a  native  of  New  England  and  in  charge  of  that  district, 
called  attention  to  a  proclamation  by  Governor  Rollins  of  New 
Hampshire,  in  which  he  used  startling  language  concerning  the 
condition  of  the  rural  portions  of  that  state : 

There  are  towns  where  no  church  bell  sends  forth  its  solemn 
call  from  January  to  January;  there  are  villages  where  children 
grow  up  to  manhood  uncnristened;  there  are  communities 
where  the  dead  are  laid  away  without  the  benison  of  the  name 


A  TWENTIETH  CENTURY  VIEW  403 

of  Christ,  and  where  marriages  are  solemnized  only  by  justices 
of  the  peace.  .  .  . 

The  Granite  State  is  not  a  sinner  above  all  others.  The  in- 
fluences which  have  shaped  its  present  religious  condition  have 
been  in  operation  throughout  New  England.  Maine,  New 
Hampshire,  Vermont,  Massachusetts,  Rhode  Island  and  Con- 
necticut are  by  history,  by  blood  connections,  and  by  business 
ties  blended  into  one  life.  .  .  .  The  influences  that  are  making 
New  Hampshire  what  it  is  are  at  the  same  time  making  Massa- 
chusetts what  it  is.  Throughout  New  England  the  urban  popu- 
lations are  engorged,  and  religious  conditions  there  are  con- 
stantly seeking  adjustment  to  new  centers  of  life,  while  the  rural 
populations  are  depleted  and  often  in  deplorable  need. 

Among  influences  working  against  religious  progress  in  the 
rural  districts  in  older  sections  were  and  are : 

(1)  The  movement  of  the  population  from  the  country  to  the 
city;  (2)  adverse  religious  conditions  due  to  the  change  going 
on  from  native  to  foreign  born — a  change  which  was  affecting 
the  people  both  in  the  city  and  in  the  country;  (3)  and  last,  but 
not  least,  "the  division  into  a  great  number  of  denominations, 
largely  working  on  individual  lines  and  without  coherence  or 
co-operation."  In  Maine  there  were  27  denominations;  New 
Hampshire,  22;  Vermont,  24;  Massachusetts,  38;  Rhode  Island, 
28;  Connecticut,  32,  and  in  some  of  these  denominations, 
counted  as  one  in  the  census  report,  there  were  often  from  two 
to  six  different  bodies.  Thus,  in  New  England,  the  Adventists 
were  of  six  different  kinds;  the  Free  Baptists  of  two,  the  Chris- 
tians of  two,  and  so  on. 

The  result  of  all  this  division  of  feeling  is  that  denominational 
rivalry  is  strong.  ...  In  Maine,  at  a  preaching  service  in  a 
Union  Sunday-School,  in  the  small  congregation  eleven  differ- 
ent denominations  were  represented.  The  whole  countryside 
was  similarly  divided.  .  .  .  People  could  not  be  persuaded 
to  sink  their  differences  and  unite  in  churches.  In  consequence 
church  organizations  in  that  part  of  the  country  are  few,  and 
those  that  exist  are  generally  weak  and  often  unable  to  maintain 
preaching.  .  .  . 

Similar  conditions  exist  largely  in  all  rural  New  England. 
There  are  far  too  many  churches  in  a  community;  they  find  it 
extremely  difficult  to  live;  have  to  call  on  outside  aid  for  sup- 
port; pay  their  ministers  very  small  salaries,  and  in  consequence 
are  obliged  more  and  more  to  accept  uneducated  ministers. 

Professor  Henry  T.  Fairbanks  of  Vermont,  after  careful 
inquiries  in  his  own  state,  affirmed  that  "290  churches  had 
ceased  to  exist,  and  that  in  a  population  of  332,000  about 


404  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

184,000  were  not  in  the  habit  of  church  attendance,  while  on 
any  pleasant  Sunday  not  more  than  75,000  were  probably  in 
the  house  of  God."    Yet  Vermont  is  not  exceptionally  deficient. 
Dr.  Foster  added: 

The  effect  of  all  these  adverse  influences  on  the  morals  and 
religious  life  of  the  people  in  the  rural  districts  is  marked.  .  .  . 
Where  there  is  no  preaching,  no  Bible,  no  sacrament,  no  Sab- 
bath, no  prayer,  no  thought  of  God,  no  knowledge  of  Christ, 
what  else  can  be  expected  than  a  weakened  moral  sense  and  an 
occasional  outbreak  of  passion? 

These  conditions  in  New  England  attracted  the  attention  of 
others  outside.  Thus  the  Rev.  Dr.  E.  K.  Bell,  of  the  Lutheran 
Church  in  Ohio,  noted  that  the  problems  in  evangelization 
were  becoming  particularly  prominent.  Referring  to  the 
statements  of  Governor  Rollins  already  quoted,  he  noted  that 
the  public  press  and  great  religious  newspapers  had  taken  up 
the  inquiry  and  found  that  the  conditions  elsewhere  were 
quite  as  grave  as  those  reported  of  New  Hampshire  and  of 
Vermont.     He  added: 

During  the  past  twenty-five  years  the  church  has  been  concen- 
trating her  energies  in  the  rapidly  growing  cities,  making  heroic 
efforts  to  save  the  urban  population  from  moral  and  spiritual 
decay,  in  localities  where  results  are  more  promising  and  con- 
ditions more  inviting.  The  American  Sunday-School  Union 
never  had  a  more  urgent  call  than  that  which  comes  from  the 
neglected  districts  in  the  country  today. 

Dr.  Trumbull  asserted  at  the  beginning  of  the  twentieth 
century: 

Forty  years  ago  I  first  became  aware  of  the  religious  desti- 
tution and  needs  of  back-country  districts  and  scattered  rural 
communities — not  in  the  extreme  West  and  South,  but  in  the 
heart  of  favored  New  England,  where  I  then  resided. 

Many  other  competent  observers  testified  to  the  destitution 
then  existing,  and  to  its  rapid  increase  in  this  section.  They 
confirmed  the  fact  already  stated  that  French  Canadians  and 
other  alien  races  swarmed  over  the  northern  border  into  the 
lumber  districts  of  Maine  and  into  the  agricultural  districts 
of  the  other  New  England  States,  seizing  upon  the  farms  that 
were  being  forsaken  by  the  sons  of  Pilgrims  and  Puritans. 
Owing  to  the  influx  of  this  alien   population,  many  of  the 


A  TWENTIETH  CENTURY  VIEW  405 

rural  churches  of  that  section  were  closed,  the  congregations 
being  so  weakened  from  depletion  as  to  be  unable  to  reopen 
them. 

Furthermore,  these  conditions  were  made  more  difficult  to 
meet  by  a  tendency  to  place  education  as  of  equal  or  greater 
importance  than  religion  in  national  life.  Alluding  to  educa- 
tion as  a  proposed  remedy  for  national  diseases,  Bishop  Cyrus 
D.  Foss  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  affirmed  that  they 
who  tell  us  about  the  troubles  which  threaten  us  and  urge: 
"Educate  the  people;  give  them  knowledge — they  do  wrong 
because  they  know  no  better — give  them  knowledge  and  they 
will  be  better,"  illustrated  his  belief  that  great  intellectual 
culture  was  not  a  panacea  for  national  difficulties.  He  cited 
the  instance  of  a  great  jurist  in  Massachusetts  who  was  cross- 
examining  a  witness,  when  the  witness  appealed  to  the  court 
for  protection,  saying  that  he  was  a  professor  of  Harvard 
College.  The  jurist  replied,  "We  hung  one  of  them  the  other 
day,"  which  was  true.1  He  strongly  affirmed  that  culture  of 
the  human  intellect  does  not  give  assurance  of  a  moral  founda- 
tion and  of  security.  The  one  panacea  for  it  was  to  teach  the 
gospel. 

Eastern  Middle  Section. — In  the  Middle  States  a  similar 
increase  of  destitution  in  the  rural  districts  existed.  The 
Hon.  William  E.  Dodge  referred  to  an  examination  of  several 
counties  in  New  York  and  of  one  or  two  counties  in  Pennsyl- 
vania and  New  Jersey  where  it  was  found  churches  had  been 
closed.  On  one  country  road,  running  out  of  Utica,  New  York, 
there  were  seven  churches  found  nailed  up,  two  of  which  had 
been  turned  into  cheese  factories  with  "No  Admittance"  on 
the  doors.  On  the  Western  Reserve  in  Ohio,  in  a  center  where 
there  had  been  two  or  three  churches,  W.  A.  Hillis,  of  that 
state,  found  that  because  of  change  of  population  the  churches 
were  closed  and  in  a  tumble-down  condition.  He  stated  that 
there  were  over  565,000  children  of  school  age  in  that  state 
outside  of  Sunday-schools  (2,000  more  of  that  age  than  were 
outside  of  Sunday-schools  in  twelve  of  the  great  states  of  the 
Northwest).  This  excess  was  due  to  the  greater  density  of 
the  population  in  the  rural  sections  of  Ohio  than  in  the  frontier 
states.     He  discovered  many  districts  in  that  properous  state 

1  The  allusion  was  to  the  celebrated  Parkman-Webster  case. 


406  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

without  Sunday-schools,  and  young  men  and  women  by  the 
score  who  had  never  been  in  a  Sunday-school  in  their  lives. 
In  another  section  of  the  state  he  said  whole  rural  townships 
were  without  a  church  or  Sunday-school. 

Somewhat  later  similar  conditions  in  western  Pennsylvania 
were  discovered  by  George  J.  Henderson.  One  rural  county, 
formerly  practically  free  from  crime,  recorded  fourteen 
murders,  twelve  criminals  sent  to  the  penitentiary,  thirteen  to 
reformatories,  fifty-three  to  workhouses,  and  159  in  jail  in 
one  year.  Sixty-six  per  cent,  of  these  were  aliens.  In  another 
county  of  the  same  state,  which  for  a  generation  had  been  in 
good  repute  for  its  virtue,  $79,000  had  been  spent  in  one  year 
in  prosecuting  criminals,  most  of  whom  were  ignorant  of  our 
institutions  and  laws.  A  survey  in  another  county  revealed 
the  fact  that  82,000,000  had  been  spent  for  intoxicating  liquors 
in  about  a  year,  and  the  immigration  for  industrial  and  mining 
purposes  in  the  ten  previous  years  was  equal  to  the  normal 
population  of  seven  of  the  largest  states  in  the  South.  These 
changes  called  for  great  activity,  and  new  adjustments  of  every 
form  of  religious  effort,  including  the  redistribution  or  reor- 
ganization of  many  local  churches.  Moreover,  in  Michigan 
the  missionary  superintendent  reported  that  it  was  each  year 
becoming  more  difficult  to  maintain  schools,  due  to  several 
causes.  The  lumber  business  distributed  millions  of  dollars  in 
wages  and  often  there  were  workers  in  camp  ready  to  help; 
lumber  operators  were  willing  to  put  a  missionary  on  the  pay 
roll,  yet  so  many  of  the  lumbermen  were  either  foreigners  or 
were  indifferent  to  religion  that  the  places  were  steadily  be- 
coming more  needy.  Many  lumber  districts  had  been  devas- 
tated by  disastrous  fires. 

Central  Northwest. — In  the  Northwestern  District  of  the 
Society,  comprising  the  great  empire  of  the  Middle  Western 
States,  where  for  two  generations  the  American  Sunday-School 
Union  had  been  concentrating  one  great  division  of  its  forces 
for  the  establishment  of  Bible  schools,  so  rapid  had  been  the 
growth  of  population  and  the  development  of  that  vast  terri- 
tory that  all  the  agencies,  union  and  denominational,  had  failed 
to  keep  pace  with  the  amazing  increase  and  needs.  There,  as 
everywhere,  the  advance  in  material  things  had  been  far 
greater  than  in  spiritual  things.     Even  the  magnificent  pro- 


A  TWENTIETH  CENTURY  VIEW  407 

vision  made  in  those  newer  states  for  education  had  failed  to 
master  illiteracy  and  to  reach  the  children  of  the  incoming 
populations  and  train  them  in  elementary  education. 

F.  G.  Ensign,  then  superintendent  of  that  section,  pointed 
out  how  hard  it  was  to  realize  the  rapid  growth  of  the  rural 
settlements  in  that  vast  territory.  In  forty  years  the  area  of 
farms  put  under  cultivation  in  virgin  soil  was  245,000,000 
acres,  the  average  migration  into  the  section  being  100  families 
a  day,  or  700  a  week.  The  new  farms  thus  occupied  and  im- 
proved were,  prior  to  1850,  buffalo  and  deer  runs,  and  the 
area  thus  settled  in  a  generation  was  greater  than  the  German 
Empire,  England,  Ireland,  Scotland,  Holland,  Belgium,  Den- 
mark and  Switzerland  combined;  countries  from  which  many 
of  these  settlers  of  varied  tongues  and  nationalities  had  come 
to  be  transformed  into  American  citizens.1 

Considering  the  means  at  its  command,  the  American 
Sunday-School  Union  had  achieved  marvelous  results,  of 
which  Mr.  Ensign  gave  a  striking  illustration.  A  Union  mis- 
sionary founded  a  Sunday-school  in  Nebraska,  in  a  new  town. 
A  young  man,  profane  of  speech,  was  made  secretary  because 
he  was  sufficiently  interested  to  be  present  at  its  organiza- 
tion. A  revival  followed,  two  churches  grew  out  of  the 
Sunday-school,  the  young  man  became  a  Sunday-school  mis- 
sionary, had  started  210  other  schools,  with  a  membership  of 
nearly  10,000,  and  already  twenty-one  young  people's  societies 
and  fifty  churches  had  grown  out  of  these  schools. 

Beyond  this,  many  people  had  been  induced  under  his  min- 
istry (although  he  was  not  a  minister)  to  prepare  for  Christian 
work  through  higher  education.  Two  from  the  schools  he  had 
planted  had  become  missionaries  in  Africa,  three  in  China, 
four  in  India,  seven  in  Japan,  two  in  South  America,  and  five 
to  the  Indians,  while  five  were  Sunday-school  missionaries  and 
twelve  were  pastors  or  ministers  in  our  own  land. 

Dr.  Cuyler's  Testimony.— The  Rev.  Dr.  Theodore  L.  Cuyler 
also  bore  witness  with  burning  eloquence  to  the  achievements 
of  the  Society  in  this  vast  Middle  West.  Referring  to  the 
heroic  missionaries  of  the  Union  who  wrought  such  priceless 
benefits  in  our  beloved  land,  he  exclaimed : 

1  Anniversary  Report,  1899,  p.  91. 


408  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

I  would  like  to  summon  from  the  realms  of  glory  that  typical 
representative  Sunday-school  missionary,  grand  old  Benjamin 
Chidlaw.  Put  your  eye  on  him — a  boy  in  an  Ohio  log  cabin 
that  could  not  afford  even  glass  in  the  windows.  The  boy  learns 
to  write  on  paper  he  has  bought  by  selling  raccoon  skins,  starts 
out  and  foots  it  forty  miles  to  Granville  to  get  his  teaching,  and 
then  travels  on  foot  120  miles  farther  to  a  Buckeye  college — and 
for  the  training  for  the  magnificent  work  God  had  in  store  for 
him  that  is  a  far  better  discipline  than  to  have  swung  in  a  ham- 
mock of  a  luxurious  university.  I  tell  you  when  Almighty  God 
wants  to  train  a  pioneer  for  Christian  work  like  Chidlaw,  or 
train  a  pilot  for  a  nation's  tempests  like  Abraham  Lincoln,  he 
cradles  them  on  the  rock.  ...  I  might  put  alongside  of  Benja- 
min Chidlaw  that  kindred  spirit  so  familiar  to  many  of  you — 
Stephen  Paxson.  It  is  just  that  rude,  rough  material  in  which 
the  sturdy  early  church  members  all  through  that  mighty  West 
and  Southwest  found  a  field.  In  fact,  if  you  could  put  your 
finger  on  the  churches  that  have  sprung  out  of  the  Sunday- 
schools  planted  by  Chidlaw  and  Paxson  I  verily  believe  they 
would  outnumber  all  the  churches  in  your  beautiful  city  of 
Philadelphia.  Their  dead  hands  are  ringing  church  bells  over 
the  Western  prairies,  through  the  defiles  of  the  Rocky  Mountains, 
until  the  silvery  music  is  lost  in  the  murmur  of  the  Pacific  Seas. 
The  grandest  thing  about  the  missionaries  of  this  noble  Union — 
the  grandest  thing  they  have  done — has  been  to  supply  to  this 
nation  what  is  the  very  salt  of  its  salvation,  and  that  is  a  Bible 
conscience.  We  need  it  and  shall  need  it  in  these  days  wnen  we 
are  confronting  some  great  problems  and  perils  to  which  we 
cannot  shut  our  eyes.  I  tell  you  yonder  over  that  Southern  sky 
we  detect  the  murky  clouds  of  the  race  problem,  and  the  only 
solution  to  that  great  question  is  a  Bible  conscience  that  shall 
educate  and  elevate  the  weaker  class — a  Bible  conscience  that 
shall  make  the  stronger  class  just  and  generous.1 

The  Southwest  Section. — If  the  moral  and  religious  needs  of 
the  Northern  belt  of  states  were  great,  those  of  the  great 
Southwest  Section  far  exceeded  them.  This  section  comprised 
all  the  southwestern  states  from  the  Mississippi  River  to  the 
Rocky  Mountains. 

"This  territory,"  said  Rev.  Dr.  W.  R.  King,  then  in  charge 
of  the  district,  "is  so  great  that  the  entire  population  of 
Russia,  Germany,  and  France  could  be  placed  within  it  and 
not  be  as  densely  populated  as  Holland." 

Rich  in  mines,  in  cattle,  in  cotton,  in  fruits,  in  coal,  and  in  its 
salubrious  climate,  it  then  contained  upward  of  7,500,000 
people;  four-fifths  of  them  living  in  rural  communities.  Ener- 
getic young  people  from  the  older  states,  and  great  hordes  of 
others  from  the  frigid  climate  of  the  north  flocked  into  this 

»  Anniversary  Report,  1899,  p.  83. 


A  TWENTIETH  CENTURY  VIEW  409 

land  of  sunshine.  The  birth  of  Oklahoma  was  phenomenal 
and  a  prophecy  of  what  the  Southwest  was  to  be  in  a  few  years. 
Of  the  immigrants,  Mr.  King  said : 

The  people  who  are  coming  into  this  section  are  coming  out  of 
good  homes — many  of  them — they  are  getting  away  from  the 
influence  of  godly  parents  and  Christian  churches,  and  there  is 
nothing  harder  on  a  man's  moral  and  spiritual  life  than  the 
breaking  up  of  home  ties  and  the  getting  away  from  the  restraints 
of  home  environment.  They  go  into  this  new  section,  away  from 
the  church  and  the  Sunday-school,  plunging  headlong  into  the 
race  for  wealth.  They  forget  their  God  and  soon  learn  to  use 
his  holy  day  for  pleasure,  if  not  for  work.  They  seldom  hear  a 
gospel  sermon,  except  as  some  faithful  missionary  comes  as  a 
light  into  the  darkness,  and  carries  the  gospel  by  tract  and 
paper  and  word  of  mouth  into  these  homes.  The  people  are 
isolated,  the  country  is  sparsely  settled;  in  many  places  the 
people  are  very  poor  and  the  religious  destitution  is  alarming. 
There  are  whole  counties  in  Arkansas  and  Missouri  and  Texas 
without  a  single  Sunday-school,  except  possibly  in  one  or  two 
cases  at  the  county  seat.  In  many  of  these  places  our  mis- 
sionaries do  well  if  they  succeed  in  getting  enough  money  out  of  a 
newly  organized  Sunday-school  to  supply  it  for  a  month.  The 
people  have  no  money,  and  if  they  are  to  get  religious  literature 
and  Bibles  they  must  be  supplied  by  the  generous  gifts  of  the 
people  who  are  better  favored.  .  .  . 

The  population  is  heterogeneous  and  unsettled.  The  people 
are  always  moving.  Our  missionaries  may  establish  a  Sunday- 
school  or  a  church  today,  and  tomorrow  the  thing  may  go  off  in  a 
covered  wagon.  Doing  missionary  work  in  Oklahoma  and  the 
Indian  Territory,  Texas  and  Arkansas  is  like  quail  shooting  on 
the  prairies — we  have  to  take  them  on  the  fly.  .  .  .  There  is  a 
glorious  opportunity  for  this  Society  in  the  Southwest.  .  .  . 
Here  are  2,500,000  children  who  have  no  gospel  privileges. 

The  South  Section. — The  Southern  District,  comprisng 
eleven  South  Atlantic  and  Gulf  States — a  territory  1,000  miles 
long  and  700  miles  wide — has  a  population  of  upward  of 
17,000,000;  over  one-third  of  whom  are  colored.  It  presents, 
perhaps,  the  most  difficult  problem  of  all.  The  condition  of 
that  field  was  forcibly  stated  by  Rev.  J.  H.  McCullagh,  who 
succeeded  his  distinguished  father  in  charge  of  the  district. 

The  population  is  scattered,  though  some  of  the  states  are 
the  oldest  in  the  Union.  There  are  only  thirty-three  inhab- 
itants to  the  square  mile,  as  against  seventy-one  in  New  Eng- 
land and  121  in  the  Middle  States.  The  South  has  no  large 
cities;  75  to  85  per  cent,  of  the  population  are  in  the  rural  dis- 
tricts or  small  villages.     They  are  split  up  into  numerous 


410  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

denominations.  The  rural  population  as  a  whole  possess 
very  limited  means.  Thus,  at  the  opening  of  this  century,  the 
taxable  wealth  of  New  York  or  Massachusetts  would  exceed 
that  in  all  the  eleven  South  Atlantic  States  combined.  In 
face  of  the  work  done  by  the  American  Sunday-School  Union 
and  all  denominational  agencies  in  the  South,  and  partly  in 
consequence  of  the  terrible  devastation  of  the  Civil  War, 
there  are  still  3,500,000  children  and  youth  in  that  district  not 
in  Sunday-school.  The  chief  destitution  is  in  the  rural  com- 
munities. 

Mr.  McCullagh  declared  that  the  line  of  separation  between 
town  and  country  became  more  marked  every  year.  Many 
who  live  from  one  to  three  miles  from  a  town  never  send  their 
children  to  the  Sunday-school.  Among  good  people  in  the 
country  the  mistaken  idea  prevails  that  because  they  cannot 
have  a.  denominational,  school,  they  cannot  have  any.  When 
the  missionary  demonstrates  that  they  can  have  a  good  Union 
school,  it  takes  them  a  month  to  get  through  wondering  why 
they  never  thought  of  it  before. 

Great  destitution  also  prevails  among  the  poor  wnites  in  the 
pine  woods  section.  The  destitution  among  the  colored  people 
and  the  great  difficulty  of  meeting  it  are  facts  too  conspicuous 
to  need  special  description  here.  The  destitution  in  the  moun- 
tain region  of  the  South,  among  the  Highlanders,  has  deservedly 
attracted,  the  attention  of  Christian  missions.  This  is  "Appa- 
lachian America-,"  and  "comprises  the  mountainous  portion  of 
eight  states,  with  about  200  large  counties  and  a  population 
of  about  3,000,000  souls.  In  area  it  is  about  as  large  as  the 
German  Empire.  These  highlanders  have  been  isolated  for 
over  a  century.  The  line  which  divides  the  mountains  from 
the  Blue  Grass  region  is  as  distinct  as  if  it  were  a  river.  Start 
from  this  line  and  go  a  mile  in  one  direction — you  will  find  land 
worth  $100  an  acre  and  people  living  in  comfort;  go  a  mile  in 
the  opposite  direction — you  find  land  nominally  worth  five  dol- 
lars an  acre  and  people  living  in  cabins,  perhaps  their  whole 
household  goods  not  worth  ten  dollars."  These  people  have 
lived  a  separate  and  distinct  life,  with  little  or  no  social  com- 
munication. One  writer  says,  "they  seldom  meet  except  in 
the  state  legislature  and  the  state  prison."  When  we  read 
accounts  of  their  lawlessness  and  feuds,  many  would  infer  that 


A  TWENTIETH  CENTURY  VIEW  411 

they  were  hopelessly  depraved  or  inexpressibly  stupid.     A 
greater  mistake  could  scarcely  be  made. 

The  sad  fact  remains  that  they  are  perhaps  the  poorest 
white  people  in  the  world.  Visit  thousands  of  their  homes  and 
you  will  not  find  a  newspaper  of  any  kind  or  date.  A  handful 
of  primary,  ragged  school  books  for  the  children  is  the  library. 
Nothing  to  beautify  the  home  or  refine  the  taste.  Grim, 
ghastly,  abject  poverty  on  every  hand!  Their  disregard  for 
human  life  is  largely  owing  to  the  lax  execution  of  law  and  the 
customs  of  a  hundred  years. 

They  are  very  hospitable  and  kind.  A  gentleman  was  in- 
vited home  to  take  dinner  with  one  of  these  mountaineers. 
When  he  sat  down  to  the  table,  the  gentleman's  face,  perhaps, 
indicated  some  surprise  at  the  scanty  bill  of  fare:  there  was 
nothing  upon  the  table  except  potatoes.  The  host  was  not  the 
least  disconcerted,  but  said,  "Have  a  tatur;  take  two  taturs;  why, 
take  darn  near  all  the  taturs!"  They  will  give  you  the  best  they 
have,  and  that  is  true  hospitality. 

A  missionary  visited  eighteen  out  of  twenty-one  families  along 
one  of  the  little  mountain  streams,  and  there  was  not  a  Bible 
in  any  of  these  homes.  One  man  had  reared  eleven  children, 
nine  of  whom  were  married,  and  he  never  had  a  Bible  in  his 
house.  A  college  president  who  visited  this  region  said,  "There 
is  not  a  Protestant  population  on  the  globe  so  destitute  of 
educated,  religious  teachers!" 

That  these  people  are  susceptible  to  evangelical  influences 
Mr.  McCullagh  and  his  father  gave  abundant  testimony. 
Thus,  from  one  of  the  little  country  schools  in  Kentucky  came 
a  candidate  for  vice-president  of  the  United  States,  a  lieutenant 
governor  of  Kentucky,  a  leading  book  publisher  in  New  York, 
three  ministers  of  the  gospel,  one  missionary  of  the  American 
Sunday-school  Union,  fifty-six  school  teachers,  ten  physicians, 
seven  lawyers  and  one  judge.  This  is  the  testimony  of  Rev. 
Joseph  H.  McCullagh,  familiar  with  the  region  all  his  life. 

The  Negro  Race. — What  can  be  said  of  the  great  problem 
of  reaching  with  the  gospel  the  9,000,000  negroes  of  the  South 
and  their  dark  brethren  in  the  islands  under  the  protectorate 
of  the  United  States?  We  confront  a  hard  problem!  Some 
Christian  philanthropists  said  concerning  these  classes,  as 
voiced  by  Rev.  Dr.  R.  H.  Conwell:  "Many  think  we  cannot 
civilize  the  Cuban  bandits  and  the  Philippine  negritos."  But 
he  urged:    "Introduce  your  school  into  every  benighted  com- 


412  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

munity  and  establish  a  Sunday-school  in  which  the  children 
will  learn  the  gospel  and  from  which  they  will  take  the  gospel 
home;  then  the  bandits  will  disband,  and  savages  will  become 
civilized." 

On  this  racial  question,  Dr.  E.  K.  Bell  confessed: 

Too  long  has  American  Christianity  been  neglecting  the 
black  children  of  the  South.  If  the  means  were  placed  in  the 
hands  of  the  American  Sunday-School  Union  to  enable  it  vigor- 
ously to  prosecute  its  work  among  the  negro  children,  preparing 
the  way  for  the  Church  to  nurture  them,  within  ten  years  the 
crimes  of  rape  and  murder,  the  crimes  of  lynching  by  burning 
and  mutilation,  would  practically  cease.  There  is  no  other 
remedy.  The  old  blacks  can  be  helped  some,  the  work  of 
evangelization  must  not  cease  among  them,  but  the  regenera- 
tion and  rehabilitating  of  the  race  can  only  be  accomplished  by 
getting  the  Word  of  God  into  the  hearts  of  the  children,  by 
putting  the  gospel  where  the  Holy  Spirit  can  work  before  the 
flesh  and  the  devil  have  pre-empted  the  occupancy. 

The  Christian  people  of  America  must  address  themselves 
to  this  great  problem.  As  John  H.  Converse  foretold:  "If 
as  great  progress  can  be  made  in  the  next  seventy-five  years, 
what  may  we  not  look  for?  In  this  movement  more  than  in 
any  other  we  have  the  development  of  what  is  called  church- 
comity.'  ' 

Rocky  Mountain  Section. — At  the  opening  of  the  century 
the  area  of  the  Rocky  Mountain  District  comprised  four  states 
and  one  territory — a  region  about  seven  and  a  half  times  as 
large  as  New  England,  but  sparsely  settled.  Yet  it  was  said 
to  have  not  less  than  500,000  youth  unreached  by  the  gospel. 
While  this  Vast  territory  is  crossed  by  transcontinental  rail- 
ways, there  are  hundreds,  perhaps  thousands,  of  valleys  be- 
tween the  great  mountain  peaks  of  that  region  reached  only  by 
a  wagon  route  or  trail.  W.  L.  De  Groff,  then  in  charge  of  that 
district,  describes  a  valley  containing  6,000  souls  where  there 
are  no  railroads  and  no  tourists  are  found  on  the  trail.  It  had 
been  settled  for  twenty-five  years  and  no  religious  services  held 
there  except  by  some  followers  of  Joseph  Smith.  There  were 
men  and  women  with  families  who  never  had  heard  a  sermon 
or  learned  anything  of  religion  except  Mormonism.  There 
were  a  few  timid  and  anxious  souls  awaiting  a  better  day,  and 
a  school  was  planted  in  the  little  village.  A  Christian  woman 
was  superintendent.     With  her  husband  she  spoke  feelingly 


A  TWENTIETH  CENTURY  VIEW  413 

of  what  it  meant  to  them  to  hear  the  gospel  once  more,  after  a 
quarter  of  a  century  of  waiting! 

Added  information  was  presented  to  the  Society  as  a  result 
of  a  tour  and  survey  through  five  of  the  Rocky  Mountain 
States  and  along  the  Pacific  Coast  by  Edwin  W.  Rice,  Edito- 
rial Secretary,  and  two  life  members.  The  mass  of  facts  he 
collected  relating  to  the  conditions  in  this  region  confirmed  the 
glimpses  of  increasing  destitution  just  mentioned.  One  of  the 
greatest  difficulties  in  the  problem  of  this  wild  country,  ap- 
proximating 1,200  miles  from  north  to  south  and  1,000  miles 
from  east  to  west,  is  the  mountainous  character  of  it.  The 
Great  Cordilleran  Plateau  is  crowded  by  high  peaks,  while  the 
range  is  broken  into  a  northern  and  a  southern  group. 

The  southern  group  is  again  split  into  a  series  of  ranges  run- 
ning nearly  north  and  south,  and  comprising  great  mountain 
valleys  enclosed  between  the  high  ridges  or  vast  mountain 
peaks,  some  rising  to  the  height  of  15,000  feet.  These  enclosed 
valleys  are  called  parks — great  parks  of  Colorado  at  an  alti- 
tude of  from  7,000  to  9,000  feet.  It  is  said  there  are  three 
hundred  mountain  peaks  in  Colorado  alone,  any  one  of  which 
would  be  famous  even  in  Switzerland,  and  not  half  of  them  have 
yet  received  appropriate  names!  Nestled  among  these  great 
peaks  are  nearly  900  lakes,  fed  and  drained  by  sixty  rivers  and 
mountain  streams  and  by  three  times  as  many  rivulets.  The 
irrigated  valleys  may  be  covered  over  with  grain,  the  mountain 
peaks  are  clothed  in  garments  of  snow,  from  which  cool  breezes 
sweep  down  at  night  to  refresh  the  weary  laborer  on  the  hot 
plain.  The  dwellers  in  these  altitudes  delight  to  assure  the 
newcomer  that  over  three  hundred  of  the  three  hundred  and 
sixty-five  days  of  the  year  are  days  of  joyous  sunshine.  The 
high  plateaus  are  usually  green  and  fertile,  covered  with  pines, 
spruces  and  green  grasses,  and  often  decked  with  rich  and 
gaily  covered  flowers.  Descending  from  the  high  plateau,  the 
spruces,  aspens  and  waving  grasses  are  displaced  by  the 
cedars  and  pinon  pine,  and  then  by  the  cactus  and  yucca, 
until,  on  the  low  plain,  little  vegetation  is  found  except  where 
irrigation  has  spread  fertility.  The  little  mountain  streams, 
fed  by  melting  snows,  possess  a  peculiar  and  ever-varying 
charm  to  the  lover  of  nature.  Helen  Hunt  Jackson,  who  had 
a  delightful  summer  camp  on  Cheyenne  Mountain,  at  the  head 


414  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

of  its  wonderfully  picturesque  and  awe-inspiring  canon,  has 
felicitously  described  a  mountain  stream:  "It  foams  and  shines 
and  twinkles  and  glistens,  and  if  there  is  any  other  thing  which 
water  at  its  swiftest  and  sunniest  can  do,  that  it  does  also." 

Each  tiny  cascade  has  its  melody  and  blends  with  the  others 
without  loss  of  its  individuality.  "It  is  the  symphony  of  the 
streams,  with  big  basses  in  front  and  airy  violins  softly  chiming 
in  at  a  distance,  rising  and  falling  in  orchestral  sweep,  while 
feathered  songsters  from  the  neighboring  tree-tops  join  in  the 
harmony  with  their  solos  of  flute-like  trills.' ' 

The  inhabitants  might  be  classed  in  three  groups:  first, 
miners  and  mining  population;  second,  the  tillers  of  the  land 
which  include  the  cattlemen  and  ranchmen  of  mountain  and 
plain,  and  the  fruit  and  grain  growers;  third,  the  commercial, 
manufacturing  and  professional  classes  of  the  towns  and  cities 
in  the  region.  The  earliest  mining  class  were  adventurers  or 
prospectors,  restless,  roving  beings,  with  no  settled  purpose 
beyond  the  love  of  adventure  or  desire  to  chance  upon  a  for- 
tune in  an  hour.  The  later  mining  population  belonged  to  a 
steadier  class  that  came  to  dig  out  a  fortune  by  patient  toil. 
A  few  succeeded.  Cripple  Creek  district  alone  yielded 
$25,500,000  worth  of  gold  in  one  year  and  $120,000,000  in  ten 
years. 

The  intellectual  and  religious  life  of  the  communities  in  the 
Rockies  was  not  conspicuously  strong.  The  ranchman  and 
his  cowboys  had  a  frontier  roughness  typical  to  cattlemen  of 
the  plains.  Widely  scattered  over  large  areas,  a  single  ranch 
sometimes  absorbed  500  to  5,000,  and  even  50,000  acres,  mak- 
ing community  life  for  educational  and  religious  purposes  very 
difficult.  In  the  rural  sections,  where  natural  streams  of  irri- 
gation turned  the  arid  plain  into  fertile  fields,  the  problem  of 
religious  worship  and  instruction  was  in  process  of  slow  solu- 
tion. The  Bible  school  seemed  especially  fitted  to  do  a  good 
work  under  these  conditions.  But  the  total  membership  of  all 
the  organized  schools  then  in  the  Rocky  Mountain  region  did 
not  equal  one-third  of  the  youth  of  school  age  in  it.  Indeed, 
hardly  one-fourth  had  been  reached. 

The  difficulties  of  evangelizing  this  region  are  obvious  to 
any  observant  Christian  worker.  Besides  the  broken  charac- 
ter of  the  country,  and  the  isolation  of  the  people  in  the  com- 


A  TWENTIETH  CENTURY  VIEW  415 

munities,  are  the  great  variety  of  diverse  occupations  and  of 
religious  prejudices.  These  were  conspicuously  illustrated  in 
an  extemporized  Sunday  service  conducted  by  Editorial 
Secretary  Rice,  in  a  log  cabin  on  a  ranch  upon  a  plateau  on  the 
shoulder  of  Bald  Mountain,  about  thirty  miles  west  of  Denver 
and  about  8,000  feet  above  the  sea. 

The  little  audience  was  made  up  of  ranchers,  miners,  camp- 
ers and  hunters,  dwelling  in  a  circuit  of  from  two  to  ten  miles 
around  the  mountain.  Notified  the  previous  day  by  a  ranch- 
man's boy  riding  to  the  settlers,  they  promptly  found  their 
way  to  the  cabin  one  Sunday  morning;  some,  no  doubt,  out  of 
curiosity,  not  having  heard  a  service  in  that  region  for  months, 
and  some  had  never  attended  one.  They  represented  Ad- 
ventists,  Baptists,  Congregationalists,  Methodists,  Presby- 
terians, two  kinds  of  Mormons,  Roman  Catholics,  Socialists, 
Theosophists,  Ethical  Culture,  and  other  rare  'isms.  Their 
occupations  were  as  varied  as  their  religious  prejudices. 
There  were  ranchmen  and  ranchwomen,  cattlemen,  cattle- 
women,  and  a  cowboy,  farmer,  gardener,  miner,  hunter, 
tourist,  teamster,  physician,  missionary,  engineer,  assayer,  and 
a  professor  in  a  university.  They  gave  respectful  and,  some 
of  them,  earnest  attention  to  the  simple  message  of  the  Christ 
as  the  Saviour  from  sin  and  the  Revealer  of  the  glorious  and 
redeemed  life  here  and  hereafter. 

A  peculiar  difficulty,  almost  insurmountable,  in  this  Rocky 
Mountain  region  is  that  of  carrying  the  gospel  to  the  Mormon 
population.  There  are  two  or  more  kinds  of  Mormons,  but 
the  largest  class  is  counted  followers  of  Joseph  Smith  and 
Brigham  Young.  The  Mormon  hierarchy  establish  schools 
of  their  own  as  rivals  to  those  of  the  "Gentiles."  Wherever  an 
evangelical  or  Gentile  school  was  established,  either  in  one  of 
their  communities  or  on  its  border,  the  Mormons  would 
straightway  form  a  school  of  their  own.  If,  however,  from 
any  cause,  the  evangelical  school  ceased  to  exist,  the  Mormon 
Sunday-school  very  soon  languished,  and,  unless  there  were 
apprehensions  of  the  Gentile  school  being  revived,  it  also  would 
cease.  This  was  true  however  of  the  rural  sections  and  not  of 
the  larger  centers  of  Mormonism.  In  the  present  generation 
they  have  sustained  such  schools  of  religious  instruction  in 
every  strong  center,  using  a  Mormon  catechism,  Mormon  hymn 


416  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

books,  and  lessons  referring  to  the  Bible,  but  generally  based 
upon  the  book  of  Mormon  or  some  accepted  work  setting  forth 
the  teachings  of  the  Mormon  apostles.  The  chief  hope  of 
redemption  of  the  Mormon  people  is  to  displace  the  teachings 
of  the  book  of  Mormon  by  the  pure  and  simple  teachings  of 
the  New  Testament. 

The  Pacific  Coast  Section. — The  Pacific  Coast  states  present 
a  problem  peculiar  to  themselves.  With  a  coast  line  on  the 
Pacific  of  from  1,200  to  1,500  miles,  with  immense  fertile  and 
rich  valleys  between  the  coast  range  of  mountains  and  the 
Sierras,  like  the  San  Joaquin,  Sacramento  and  Santa  Clara 
Valleys,  and  other  vast  stretches  of  country,  with  every  variety 
of  climate,  rich  in  fruits,  grains,  and  vegetation — far  more  rich 
thus  than  in  its  gold  and  silver — its  people  delight  to  call  it 
'The  Sunset  Land." 

Moreover,  in  this  section  many  varieties  of  religion — 
Christian  and  pagan — confront  the  eye.  It  is  full  of  sharp 
contrasts  and  sudden  surprises.  Old  Spanish  missions,  side  by 
side  with  modern  Protestant  churches,  and,  hard  by,  a  Chinese 
temple;  so  that,  in  the  Pacific  cities,  Protestant,  Catholic,  and 
Pagan  worship  strangely  commingle.  Japanese,  Chinese  and 
Spanish,  American  and  Australian  shops  are  so  crowded  to- 
gether that  store,  shop,  bazaar,  and  antique  collector  appear 
to  have  been  hurled  into  one  scarcely  distinguishable  melee  by 
some  earthquake.  The  passion  for  getting  rich  quick  which 
attracted  the  gold  prospectors  to  California  in  crowds,  and  the 
craze  for  extravagant  indulgence  in  pleasures  and  pastimes, 
still  largely  dominate  the  multitude.  Religion  fails  to  attract. 
Faith  is  trodden  underfoot,  unheeded,  by  the  rush  for  riches 
and  sports.  The  need  for  Bible  schools  in  the  country  dis- 
tricts is  alarming.  Most  of  the  existing  schools  are  in  the 
cities  and  villages.  If  the  testimony  given  by  residents  can 
be  trusted,  the  public  schools  of  this  region  interpret  their  laws 
as  against  teaching  religion  therein,  and  leave  moral  instruc- 
tion without  adequate  Christian  sanction  or  basis.  Such  teach- 
ing must  be  done  in  the  church,  the  Bible  school,  or  the  home. 
If  the  parents  are  unbelievers  (and  reports  indicate  that  in  this 
region  four  out  of  five  are)  little  religious  instruction  can  be 
expected  in  the  home.  Many  churches  are  struggling  for 
existence  or  are  crippled,  and  cannot  undertake  evangelism  in 


A  TWENTIETH  CENTURY  VIEW  417 

remote  rural  districts.  The  burden  of  this  mission  work  must 
fall  upon  some  interdenominational  agency  like  the  American 
Sunday-School  Union. 

Southern  California  was  early  settled  by  Mexican-Spanish 
people.  But  these  settlers  were  nearly  lost  in  the  tide  of  ener- 
getic and  thrifty  people  from  the  East,  for  the  population  of 
Southern  California  increased  about  six-fold  in  twenty  years 
(1880  to  1900). 

The  same  neglect  of  general  education  which  characterized 
the  Roman  Catholic  religion  of  the  Spanish  type  in  Cuba  for 
two  centuries  prevailed  with  its  Mexican  followers  on  the 
Pacific  slope.  General  education,  better  homes  for  the  people, 
better  economic  conditions  are  not  watchwords  of  the  Roman 
friar;  they  are  not  found  in  his  vocabulary. 

A  tour  into  the  great  oil  regions  of  that  section  of  the 
country,  through  the  charming  San  Gabriel  Valley,  illustrated 
this  fact.  Descendants  of  the  old  Spanish  settlers  had  cattle 
and  sheep  ranches  and  fruit  orchards.  Two  Spaniards, 
brothers,  in  one  part  of  that  valley  held  5,000  acres  each,  and 
their  holdings  obstructed  the  progress  and  improvement  which 
small  farms  would  give  to  the  country.  Far  up  on  the  moun- 
tain crests,  above  this  valley,  were  multitudes  of  oil  wells  hid- 
den away  among  the  hills  of  the  high  mountain  ranges.  The 
people  were  intelligent,  earnest;  with  humble  homes  made 
cleaner,  sweeter,  and  more  joyous  by  the  message  of  the 
gospel  which  they  had  received  through  the  Union  Bible 
school. 

A  generation  ago  California  was  the  "Land  of  Gold."  It  is 
still  in  the  front  rank  of  gold-producing  states,  but  gold  is  not 
now  its  largest  product.  The  annual  output  at  the  beginning 
of  this  century  was  about  $15,000,000,  while  the  value  of 
agricultural  products  for  a  year  exceeded  $95,000,000. 

I  have  already  alluded  to  the  variety  of  climate  in  Cali- 
fornia, Oregon  and  Washington ;  it  is  not  one,  but  many.  The 
climates  of  the  world  are  crowded  into  this  strip  of  country  on 
the  Pacific,  just  as  the  world  is  there  in  miniature.  It  is  a 
splendid  moving-picture  show  of  the  habits,  customs,  peoples 
and  institutions  of  the  globe.  It  is  the  gateway  to  the 
Orient,  and  it  has  gained  a  new  name,  "The  Land  of  Sunshine 
and  of  Flowers."     California  claimed  to  lead  all  the  states  in 


418  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

the  production  of  barley,  beet-sugar,  prunes,  grapes,  oranges 
and  semi-tropical  fruits,  and  to  be  in  the  front  rank  of  the  wool- 
growing  states. 

In  the  face  of  the  passion  to  get  rich  quickly  and  the  craze 
for  extravagant  pleasures,  education  has  been  given  a  promi- 
nent place  in  the  Pacific  states.  The  Leland  Stanford,  Jr.,  Uni- 
versity and  the  University  of  California  are  in  the  front  rank 
of  educational  institutions  in  the  country,  in  magnitude  of 
foundation,  richness  of  endowment  and  in  scientific  attain- 
ments. 

At  the  beginning  of  this  century,  the  states  bordering  on  the 
Pacific  had  about  8,000  (7,799  in  1900)  buildings  for  public 
schools,  to  accommodate  612,825  persons  of  school  age.  Cali- 
fornia had  361,153  of  these  persons — the  school  age  in  that 
state  being  between  five  and  seventeen  years.  In  Oregon  the 
school  age  is  from  four  to  twenty,  and  the  school  population  in 
the  same  year  numbered  133,181,  and  in  Washington  the  school 
age  is  five  to  twenty-one,  and  they  numbered  then  118,491 
youth  of  school  age.  As  indicating  the  lack  of  Bible  schools, 
Oregon  had  2,070  school  buildings,  but  only  1,092  organized 
Sunday-schools.  These  included  schools  in  churches  as  well 
as  those  in  the  rural  districts.  While  Washington  appeared 
the  best  provided  with  public  schools  for  youth,  California 
and  Oregon  had  the  largest  proportion  of  professed  Christians 
— 23  per  cent,  against  Washington's  18  per  cent.  Of  course, 
these  figures  are  for  all  denominations,  including  Roman 
Catholic  and  Greek  Catholic. 

In  this  tour  of  the  Pacific,  Union  Bible  schools  were  described 
to  us  as  being  from  ten  to  thirty-five  or  forty  miles  from  the 
nearest  church.  A  list  was  given  us  of  thirty-five  towns  re- 
mote from  railways  but  reached  by  stage,  and  only  one  of  the 
thirty-five  had  a  church.  The  development  of  dry  farming  in 
recent  times  has  increased  the  difficulty  of  supporting  religious 
service.  The  people  around  the  dry  farming  regions  are  mi- 
gratory and  are  not  disposed  to  sustain  religious  services. 
Churches  must  be  sustained  by  mission  gifts.  To  maintain  a 
regular  preacher  in  a  church  or  station  is  too  expensive,  and 
yet  the  country  people  need  the  gospel.  They  ought  to  have 
the  gospel,  but,  living  on  farms  here  and  there,  many  must  be 
reached  "on  the  fly."    Experience  shows  that  the  Bible-school 


A  TWENTIETH  CENTURY  VIEW  419 

work  is  more  effective  in  lonely  homes  on  the  plain  than  in 
the  busy,  distracting  towns.  The  rapid  increase  of  agricul- 
ture is  increasing  the  population  in  the  country  districts  beyond 
the  reach  of  churches,  and  immensely  increasing  the  demand 
for  a  flexible  economic  gospel  agency  to  supply  the  religious 
needs  of  such  rural  communities.  Missionary  agencies,  there- 
fore, must  be  on  the  alert  to  keep  pace  with  the  phenomenal 
growth  of  the  states  on  the  Pacific  coast. 

After  the  Century — What  Next? — America  is  proud  of  its 
Sunday-school  achievements  and  forces.  From  a  feeble, 
despised  little  band  of  a  century  ago,  it  now  enrolls,  in  round 
numbers,  nearly  200,000  schools  (the  denominations  count 
190,846)  having  upward  of  21,000,000  members  (the  denom- 
inations claim  21,195,250  {Encyclopedia  of  Sunday-Schools, 
pp.  1198,  1199).  These  statistics  by  denominations  are  from 
reports  of  about  165  religious  bodies  in  the  United  States, 
including  Protestants,  Roman  Catholics,  Jewish  congrega- 
tions, Latter  Day  Saints,  Salvation  Armies,  Spiritualists, 
Ethical  Culturists,  Theosophists,  and  two  bodies  of  Buddhists. 
But  these  "statistics  of  Sunday-schools  by  denominations' ' 
do  not  include  Union  schools  unless  under  the  control  of  and 
attached  to  some  local  church.  The  majority  of  evangelical 
Union  schools  are  in  rural  districts  too  remote  from  churches, 
or  in  places  of  too  many  diverse  religious  prejudices  to  be  so 
attached,  even  if  churches  were  near  and  strong  enough  to 
sustain  them.  After  a  time  revivals  occur,  professed  disciples 
are  multiplied,  and  they  unite  to  form  themselves  into  a 
church  of  their  own  choice. 

The  American  Sunday-School  Union,  with  its  upward  of  200 
trained  field  workers,  in  ten  years  (1905  to  1915)  organized 
17,187  new  Sunday-schools  in  communities  that  were  without 
religious  services,  and  reorganized  6,994  schools  in  other 
places  (besides  aiding  thousands  of  feeble  country  schools), 
a  total  of  24,181  schools. 

Adding  these  to  the  Sunday-schools  reported  by  denomina- 
tions increases  the  Sunday-school  forces  (1917)  in  the  United 
States  approximately  to  215,000  schools,  with  not  less  than 
25,000,000  members.  Or,  as  the  evangelical  Union  schools 
nearly  equal  in  numbers  and  members  those  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  and  other  non-Protestant  schools  combined,  as  re- 


420  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

ported  in  the  "statistics  by  denominations,"  it  appears  that  the 
Sunday-school  forces  of  this  country,  using  the  Bible  as  the 
chief  text-book  for  instruction,  exceed  20,000,000. 

Union  Schools  Strengthen  Churches. — These  evangelical 
Union  schools  are  among  the  richest  tributaries  to  the  strength 
of  American  churches,  for  in  ten  years,  preceding  1915,  these 
Union  schools  reported  98,556  who  confessed  Christ  through 
their  mission  work,  besides  others  not  counted  in  many  schools; 
and  862  churches  of  different  denominations  were  formed  in 
as  many  places,  where  the  same  Union  schools  had  prepared 
the  way.  The  chief  teaching  in  these  Union  Sunday-schools  is 
the  Bible  doctrines  that  are  essential  to  salvation — a  teaching 
never  in  vain.  The  Holy  Spirit  uses  it  to  convince  and  convert 
souls.  As  the  workers  view  the  marvelous  results  of  this  move- 
ment they  may  well  exclaim,  "What  hath  God  wrought !" 

Forty  Million  Unreached.— What  pf  the  75,000,000  to 
80,000,000  in  the  United  States  not  enrolled  in  Bible  or 
Sunday-schools?  It  is  reported  that  upward  of  38,000,000 
are  communicants  or  members  of  various  religious  bodies. 
About  15,000,000  of  these  members  are  in  Catholic  or  non- 
evangelical  and  non-Protestant  bodies,  where  the  Bible,  if 
not  neglected  or  rejected,  is  not  the  supreme  rule  of  life  and 
conduct.  But  admitting  that  50  per  cent,  of  these  80,000,000 
are  under  religious  instruction,  added  to  the  20,000,000  or 
more  in  Sunday-schools — and  deducting  none  for  the  large 
number  in  these  schools  who  are  also  counted  again  as  church 
members — and  there  are  yet  40,000,000  of  souls  left.  When 
this  vast  multitude — 40  per  cent,  of  the  total  population  of  the 
Unites  States  alone  that  are  not  enrolled  in  the  churches  or 
Sunday-schools  of  any  kind — are  seriously  considered,  many 
trained  workers  must  be  alarmed  for  the  future  of  our  country. 
What  have  Christians  been  doing — playing  at  Mission  and 
Bible-school  work?  After  a  century  of  boasted  achievements, 
unparalleled  in  the  history  of  Christianity,  and  in  a  land  like 
America,  all  this  work  yet  undone!  This  reveals  the  mighty 
task  before  us. 

The  Next  Great  Task. — After  a  century  of  achievement  the 
work  is  scarcely  half-done.  There  remain  40,000,000  or  more 
people  in  our  country  not  in  the  churches  nor  in  the  Sunday- 
schools  who  are  unreached  by  religious  instruction.     How 


A  TWENTIETH  CENTURY  VIEW  421 

shall  they  be  reached?  Where  are  they?  What  forces  are 
seeking  them?  Are  the  forces  adapted  to  meet  the  conditions 
confronting  them  with  any  measure  of  success?  These  are 
fair  questions.  They  ought  to  be  thoughtfully  considered  and 
answered  in  Christian  candor. 

What  have  the  200  or  more  workers  of  the  American  Sunday- 
School  Union  to  say,  in  view  of  the  century  of  experience  and 
recent  surveys  of  the  religious  conditions  of  rural  America? 
A  questionnaire  was  sent  them  respecting  the  population, 
reached  and  unreached,  by  all  forms  of  Bible  instruction;  any 
overlapping  of  Christian  agencies;  their  attitude  toward  one 
another;  and  how  they  were  meeting  the  religious  conditions 
in  rural  communities.  Scattered  in  all  parts  of  the  country, 
they  responded  by  full  and  specific  information  in  regard  to  the 
different  great  sections. 

New  England. — These  detailed  facts  relate  chiefly,  no  doubt, 
to  the  conditions  in  rural  communities,  where  the  majority  of 
the  population  in  the  United  States  still  reside. 

As  a  result  of  long  service  and  of  recent  surveys  in  the  New 
England  States,  Warner  L.  Carver  and  his  co-laborers  state 
that  about  18  to  20  per  cent,  of  the  people  are  under  some  form 
of  stated  Bible  instruction,  and  from  78  to  80  per  cent,  are  not. 
Thus,  The  Maine  Sunday-School  Star  (May,  1912)  claimed  a 
Sunday-school  enrolment  in  that  state  of  128,077  in  1,656 
schools,  of  which  133  were  Catholic,  but  there  were  174,529 
youth  under  twenty  years  of  age  not  in  Sunday-school,  and 
255  churches  without  Sunday-schools,  24  of  them  Catholic 
churches.  In  northern  and  eastern  Maine  the  proportion 
unreached  is  greater  than  in  the  southern  and  western  part  of 
the  state.  The  extent  to  which  the  rural  sections  are  reached 
by  other  than  Union  religious  agencies  may  be  indicated  by 
the  number  of  teachers  in  Union  rural  schools  reached  by 
denominational  or  county  teacher-training  schools.  The  ex- 
perienced Union  missionaries  in  the  state  agree  that  barely 
15  per  cent,  of  the  teaching  force  in  the  rural  Sunday-schools 
are  so  reached,  leaving  fully  85  per  cent,  to  be  trained  by  the 
Union's  workers.  The  overlapping  is  a  negligible  quantity, 
not  exceeding  5  per  cent,  in  any  surveyed  section. 

In  New  Hampshire  the  conditions  are  very  similar  to  those 
in  Maine.    Thus,  in  the  southern  part  of  the  state,  W.  C. 


422  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

Landis  states  that  approximately  15  per  cent,  of  the  total 
population  is  reached  by  Sunday-school  instruction,  and  85 
per  cent,  is  not  reached.  He  estimates  that  from  5  to  7  per 
cent,  might  be  reached  by  denominational  influences  if  Union 
agencies  were  not  in  the  field.  In  Northern  New  Hampshire 
about  80  per  cent,  are  not  in  Sunday-school,  and,  if  the 
Union  schools  were  closed,  only  about  "one  family  of  three 
members,  of  every  forty  scholars  now  in  those  schools,  would 
receive  Bible  instruction  in  village  schools."  This  does  not 
indicate  very  serious  "overlapping"  in  that  section. 

In  Vermont,  with  a  population  of  355,956,  it  is  estimated, 
E.  C.  Kinney  states,  that  about  one-third  attend  some  church 
service  and  about  22  per  cent,  attend  Sunday-school.  Recent 
discussions  of  the  rural  church  problem  have  surprised  the 
people  by  the  conditions  that  are  alleged  to  exist.  A  minister 
said  to  the  Union  missionary,  "You  have  done  a  wonderful 
work  in  revealing  the  conditions  and  needs  of  the  rural  dis- 
tricts." No  great  overlapping  of  religious  agencies  is  noticed 
in  that  state. 

The  conditions  in  Massachusetts,  Rhode  Island  and  Con- 
necticut are  quite  similar.  From  18  to  20  per  cent,  are  under 
some  form  of  Protestant  Bible  instruction  in  Sunday-schools, 
and  approximately  80  per  cent,  unreached,  except  the  adult 
portion  of  the  population  that  may  attend  church  services. 
H.  G.  Wellington  believes  the  overlapping  is  too  small,  gener- 
ally, to  be  worthy  of  note. 

Eastern  Central  States. — In  New  York  and  New  Jersey  the 
proportion  of  the  total  population  under  Sunday-school  in- 
struction is  slightly  less  than  in  New  England.  The  largest 
number  yet  unreached  in  New  York  will  be  found  in  the  re- 
gions of  the  Catskill  and  Adirondack  Mountains.  Southern 
New  Jersey  is  the  poorest  supplied  section  of  that  state. 
Neither  of  these  states  has  one-half  of  the  youth  under  twenty 
years  of  age  in  Sunday-school,  and  about  16  per  cent,  of  the 
total  population  of  New  York  and  scarcely  12  per  cent,  in 
New  Jersey  are  found  in  Sunday-schools.  Delaware  is  far 
better  supplied,  having  well-nigh  25  per  cent,  of  its  population 
under  Bible  instruction. 

Pennsylvania  has  been  called  "The  banner  Sunday-school 
state."     It  has  more  than  one-half  of  its  youth  under  twenty 


A  TWENTIETH  CENTURY  VIEW  423 

years  of  age  in  Sunday-schools,  with  25  per  cent,  of  its  total 
population  under  such  Bible  instruction.  The  eastern  part 
of  the  state  has  a  much  larger  proportion  of  its  people  under 
such  instruction  than  the  western  section.  The  manufactur- 
ing and  mining  industries  (coal,  iron  and  steel)  of  the  latter 
section  have  attracted  a  large  alien  population  that  are  un- 
reached by  evangelical  teaching.  Were  it  not  for  these  con- 
ditions Pennsylvania  would  show  a  much  better  Bible-school 
record.  Vigorous  and  successful  Union  agencies  are  bringing 
that  end  of  the  state  nearer  to  the  high  standard  maintained 
in  the  eastern  section. 

In  other  central  states — Ohio,  Indiana  and  Michigan — 
George  J.  Henderson  and  his  co-workers  find  that  the  number 
under  Sunday-school  training  varies  from  about  23  per  cent, 
of  the  population  in  Ohio  and  Indiana  to  about  18  per  cent, 
in  Michigan.  The  latest  International  Sunday-school  Asso- 
ciation statistics  also  indicate  that  over  2,250,000  of  youth, 
under  twenty  years  of  age,  in  these  prosperous  states  are  yet 
unreached  by  Sunday-school  instruction. 

The  impression  prevails  in  these  states,  as  elsewhere  also, 
that  the  great  influx  of  alien  peoples  have  accentuated  the 
desire  for  some  effective  form  of  co-operation  or  federated 
movement  in  country  communities,  and  for  some  new  or  modi- 
fied methods  in  country  church  work,  adequately  to. cope  with 
the  situation.  Meanwhile  the  Union  Sunday-school  continues 
to  point  out  one  efficient  method  for  meeting  the  religious 
needs  of  the  multitude  of  small  communities  in  country  sec- 
tions. 

The  Northwest. — In  Illinois  and  Wisconsin,  with  Chicago 
as  the  great  center,  about  17  to  18  per  cent,  of  the  total  popu- 
lation are  enrolled  in  Sunday-schools.  Dr.  W.  W.  Johnstone, 
of  Chicago,  places  the  number  of  youth  under  twenty  years  of 
age  unreached  in  these  states  at  over  2,000,000,  exclusive  of 
those  in  Roman  Catholic  and  other  non-evangelical  families. 
The  few  denominational  agents  in  these  states  work  mainly 
along  the  railways  and  main  lines  of  travel,  and  therefore  do 
not  overlap  the  Union's  work.  While  the  former  render  good 
service,  much  of  it  is  on  a  quasi-union  basis,  and  they  call 
their  schools  "Community  Schools."  In  teacher  training  the 
Union  rural  schools  are,  for  the  most  part,  unreached  by  other 


424  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

agencies,  and  look  to  the  Union  for  aid  in  improving  teachers 
and  schools. 

From  12  to  16  per  cent,  of  the  people  in  North  Dakota, 
Montana  and  Minnesota  are  in,  and  about  85  per  cent,  are 
yet  outside,  the  Sunday-school.  Not  one-half  of  the  youth 
under  twenty  years  of  age  are  enrolled  in  Sunday-schools  in 
either  of  these  three  states.  The  Rev.  John  0.  Ferris  and  his 
associates  observe  that  denominational  and  associational  edu- 
cational work  overlap  to  some  extent,  but  Union  Sunday- 
school  work  does  not  overlap  any  other  agencies. 

A  recent  survey  of  140  counties  in  Iowa,  Nebraska  and 
South  Dakota  discovered  1,659  church  buildings  of  all  de- 
nominations, 246  of  which  were  abandoned  or  were  without 
preaching  services.  If  all  the  other  counties  of  these  states 
have  similar  conditions,  it  would  indicate  that  the  denomina- 
tions are  not  reaching  more  than  25  per  cent,  of  the  country 
population.  The  Rev.  Joseph  Wells  and  the  trained  co-work- 
ers with  him,  in  this  group  of  states,  place  the  total  number 
statedly  reached  by  all  forms  of  Bible  instruction  at  about 
1,350,000,  and  state  that  about  2,750,000  youth  are  yet  un- 
reached. They  report  that  the  overlapping  of  agencies  in  rural 
religious  efforts  there  is  so  insignificant  as  not  to  be  worth 
counting.  Some  persons  are  counted  twice  because  they  are 
members  of  denominational  schools  and  also  aid  in  sustaining 
Union  rural  schools.  The  United  States  census  credits  Iowa 
with  having  22  per  cent,  of  its  population  in  Sunday-school, 
including  Roman  Catholic  schools;  Nebraska  with  20  per  cent. ; 
South  Dakota  with  about  15  per  cent. ;  and  Wyoming  with  over 
12  per  cent.  Iowa  and  Wyoming  are  further  credited  with 
having  over  one-half  of  their  youth,  under  twenty  years  of  age, 
under  Sunday-school  instruction.  The  alien  population  and 
their  children  are  increasing  rapidly  in  many  sections  of  this 
group  of  states,  as  elsewhere  throughout  the  interior  west  and 
on  the  Pacific  coast,  and  are  correspondingly  increasing  the 
magnitude  of  the  task  confronting  all  the  Sunday-school  and 
religious  forces  in  the  field. 

The  Rocky  Mountain  and  Pacific  States. — The  conditions  in 
the  Rocky  Mountain  and  Pacific  Coast  States  may  be  inferred 
from  the  fact  that  Idaho  and  Washington  more  than  doubled 
in  population  from  1900  to  1910.     All  the  religious  agencies 


A  TWENTIETH  CENTURY  VIEW  425 

find  that  their  combined  efforts  have  proved  inadequate  to 
keep  pace  with  the  abnormal  increase  of  population  and  rapid 
multiplication  of  rural  communities.  In  California  the  per- 
centage of  the  population  under  Sunday-school  instruction  is 
still  less  than  in  her  sister  states,  Washington  and  Oregon, 
according  to  the  United  States  census,  and  the  total  includes 
Roman  Catholic  and  all  forms  of  non-evangelical  schools  held 
on  Sunday.  In  Arizona,  as  in  New  Mexico  and  southern  Cali- 
fornia, the  alien  population,  especially  those  of  Spanish  de- 
scent, has  proved  a  serious  handicap  to  the  progress  of  Bible 
instruction.  The  entire  group  of  states  west  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains  now  offer  the  greatest  opportunity  for  extending 
Bible  instruction,  and  one  which  demands  prompt  and  en- 
larged efforts  to  meet. 

Nevada,  the  silver  mining  state,  is  at  the  foot  of  the  list, 
having  the  smallest  population  of  any  state,  and  the  smallest 
proportion  (less  than  7  per  cent.)  under  Bible  instruction  in 
Sunday-school,  with  New  Mexico  and  Arizona  very  near  to  her 
in  the  percentage  of  population  unreached  by  the  gospel. 

The  Southwest. — The  eight  great  states  of  the  Southwest — 
Missouri,  Arkansas,  Louisiana,  Texas,  Oklahoma,  Kansas, 
Colorado  and  New  Mexico — form  a  vast  empire  in  territory, 
with  15,000,000  population,  but  destined  to  have  50,000,000  in 
the  near  future.  They  invite  the  gospel  worker  to  enter  and 
reap  an  abundant  harvest.  Excepting  Spanish  New  Mexico, 
a  good  beginning  has  been  made  by  bringing  from  15  to  20  per 
cent,  of  the  population  under  Bible-school  instruction.  E.  B. 
Stevenson  ranks  as  the  veteran  among  the  Union's  workers 
there,  having  seen  more  than  thirty-five  years  of  service. 
He  and  his  efficient  company  of  missionaries  should  be  fully 
competent  to  give  trustworthy  information  regarding  the  con- 
ditions and  prospects  of  the  great  task  facing  the  Bible  in- 
structing forces  in  this  empire  of  the  Southwest. 

Somewhat  less  than  3,000,000  are  enrolled  in  Sunday-school 
in  these  eight  states.  Union  workers  think  that  denomina- 
tional efforts  are  not  more  efficient  now  than  twenty  years  ago 
in  reaching  rural  districts.  Thirty-five  years  ago  Mr.  Steven- 
son recalls  that  the  Methodists  were  using  the  circuit  rider, 
"and  at  each  point  reached  insisting  that  the  people  have  a 
Sunday-school."     Other   denominations   had   ministers   also 

1  Rev.  E.  R.  Martin  and  associates;  Annual  Reports,  1913-17. 


426  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

preaching  in  two  or  more  churches  in  country  neighborhoods. 
"It  is  rare,"  he  says  now,  "to  find  ministers  doing  much  of 
this  sort  of  work  in  country  districts.  .  .  .  The  Union  Sunday- 
school  is  a  more  permanent  factor  in  the  average  country  com- 
munity"; perhaps  from  necessity.  If  the  Union  forces  were 
not  in  the  field  "thousands  of  these  communities  would  not  be 
reached  at  all." 

Then  there  are  extensive  lumber,  oil,  and  mining  industries, 
calling  for  individual  treatment,  to  meet  the  peculiar  conditions 
of  language,  religious  views,  and  habits  of  the  wage  earners. 
Some  flexible  policy  in  Union  Sunday-school  work,  adapted  to 
their  needs,  would  enable  the  Union  workers  more  effectively 
to  reach  these  otherwise  unreached  classes.  The  great  hope 
for  this  vast  empire  of  the  Southwest,  workers  declare,  is  in 
sending  the  living  missionary  to  the  homes  of  the  people, 
establishing  Sunday-schools,  providing  them  with  Christian 
literature,  arranging  to  have  it  come  regularly,  and  seeing  that 
it  is  distributed  Sabbath  by  Sabbath.  This  will  surely  reform 
and  redeem  the  dwellers  in  the  homes  wherever  it  is  faithfully, 
persistently  and  prayerfully  done. 

The  New  Old  South. — The  religious  condition  of  that  great 
section  of  our  country,  the  South — comprising  eleven  states — 
Maryland,  Virginia,  West  Virginia,  Kentucky,  Tennessee, 
North  Carolina,  South  Carolina,  Georgia,  Florida,  Alabama 
and  Mississippi — as  indicated  by  the  United  States  census,  is 
that  about  40  per  cent,  of  the  population  is  under  some  form  of 
Bible  or  religious  instruction  and  about  60  per  cent,  is  not. 
The  Rev.  Joseph  H.  McCullagh  has  had  the  oversight  of  Union 
Sunday-school  work  in  the  South  for  over  thirty  years,  suc- 
ceeding his  father,  the  Rev.  John  McCullagh,  in  this  respon- 
sible service.  Their  combined  labors  extend  over  more  than 
seventy  years,  or  from  about  1842  to  the  present.  Joseph  H. 
McCullagh  has  thus  inherited  the  accumulated  knowledge  and 
experience  of  his  father  and  added  to  it  his  own  long  observa- 
tion and  study  of  the  great  religious  problems  in  the  South. 
It  is  the  belief  that  the  Census  Bureau  report  is  fairly  complete 
and  approximately  accurate  for  the  southern  section,  The 
percentage  of  rural  population  reached  by  the  Union  twenty 
years  ago  which  is  now  reached,  or  would  be  reached  by  other 
agencies,  he  affirms,  is  exceedingly  small,  "not  more  than  1  per 


A  TWENTIETH  CENTURY  VIEW  427 

cent.";  hence  there  is  little  chance  for  "overlapping"  in  rural 
districts  in  the  South. 

The  Southern  people  are  intense  in  everything,  and  so  by- 
nature  are  ardently  denominational,  yet,  as  the  McCullaghs 
testify,  the  people  have  always  cordially  approved  of  the 
Union's  work  in  rural  communities.  The  condition  of  many 
churches  in  that  section  is  such  a  struggle  for  existence  that 
denominational  work  absorbs  their  energies  and  about  all  they 
have  to  give.  The  splendid  achievements  of  the  past,  how- 
ever, give  promise  of  yet  greater  results  in  this  century.  The 
American  Sunday-School  Union  has  had  a  goodly  share  in  the 
work  so  far  done.  In  thirty  years  past  it  has  established  on 
an  average  over  400  new  Sunday-schools  annually  in  this  sec- 
tion alone,  providing  Bible  instruction  for  about  1,000,000 
persons.  Seventy  thousand  conversions  have  been  reported, 
besides  large  numbers  uncounted,  and  800  churches  have  been 
erected  or  organized  to  strengthen  the  denominations  as  the 
partial  fruit  of  these  Union  schools  in  the  South.  There  never 
were  so  many  youth  in  Sunday-schools  in  the  South  as  there 
are  now.  But  the  renewed  material  prosperity  of  that  section, 
added  to  the  natural  increase  of  population,  especially  of  the 
negro  race,  has  outrun  the  efforts  of  all  religious  agencies  there, 
so  that  in  the  rural  districts  of  the  "new  old  South"  there  are 
more  youth  unreached  by  Bible  instruction  than  have  yet  been 
reached.  As  the  largest  portion,  by  far,  of  the  population  of 
the  South  is  rural,  it  follows  that  a  large  percentage  of  those 
unreached  youth  and  adults  are  in  country  communities,  and 
it  is  the  judgment  of  Mr.  McCullagh  (in  which  a  large  number 
of  trained  workers  and  observers  concur)  that  Union  schools 
can  be  more  efficiently  maintained  than  others  in  these  coun- 
try districts. 

There  are  many  diverse  classes  in  this  great  section.  Be- 
sides the  comparatively  well-to-do  white  people,  the  "black 
belt"  of  negroes  presents  a  grave  problem  for  Bible-school 
laborers.  That  negroes  are  "naturally  religious"  is  a  common 
view.  This  view  is  sharply  challenged  by  some  trained  ob- 
servers. Thus  Mr.  McCullagh  gives  it  as  the  result  of  his  ob- 
servation that  "the  negroes  as  a  race  do  not  attend  religious 
services  now  as  much  as  they  did  thirty  years  ago."  And 
"the  condition  of  the  young  colored  people  in  the  South  is 


428  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

very  sad.  About  80  per  cent,  of  them  are  in  the  rural  dis- 
tricts, and,  owing  to  the  extreme  poverty  of  many  and  to  their 
improvidence,  they  rarely  have  Sunday-schools."  This  view 
is  confirmed  by  the  experienced  Union  missionaries  in  the 
South  after  many  years  of  investigation  and  field  service. 
Then  the  long  neglected,  but  home-loving  and  sturdy  moun- 
taineers, the  highlanders  of  the  South,  respond  to  evangelical 
instruction  with  a  most  unexpected  cordiality.  The  poorer 
white  classes  of  some  sections — the  "sand-hillers"  and  "crack- 
ers"— should  not  be  overlooked  in  their  abject  poverty  and  ig- 
norance, for  they  too  have  souls.  These  must  be  reached 
chiefly  through  an  economical,  efficient  Union  evangelical 
agency — one  that  will  combine  all  the  religious  sentiment,  and 
foster  every  spark  of  holy  aspiration  that  may  be  latent  in  the 
soul.  Here  then  is  a  mighty  task — to  give  Bible  instruction  to 
the  "New  South"  such  as  will  saturate  its  material  prosperity 
with  a  new  heart  and  a  blessed  service  for  God  and  man. 

How  Master  the  Mighty  Task? — Obviously,  more  vigorous 
efforts  must  be  put  forth  to  establish  new  Bible  schools  in  all 
the  unreached  portions  of  America  and  the  world.  But  exist- 
ing schools  must  also  be  made  vastly  more  efficient,  in  every 
way,  especially  in  winning  the  neglected  people  at  their  very 
doors.  The  church  and  the  Sunday-school  alike  must  obey 
the  Master's  command:  "Make  disciples  (learners)  of  all  the 
nations." 

There  are  large  sections  where,  owing  to  the  many  divisions 
in  creed,  the  agencies  are  crowding  upon  one  another,  yet  are 
leaving  masses  unreached  in  the  very  fields  they  each  and  all 
claim  to  occupy.  This  conspicuous  weakness  of  a  divided 
Christianity  must  in  some  way  be  overcome  if  it  is  to  conquer 
the  world  or  even  to  make  disciples  of  one  great  nation.  The 
efficient  co-operation  and  federation  of  Christian  forces  can 
come  permanently  only  through  the  cultivation  of  the  spirit 
of  Christian  unity  for  which  Christ  prayed  (John  17  :  21). 

Viewing  continental  United  States  alone,  it  is  humiliating 
to  find  great  sections  of  cities  in  which  the  population  is 
massed  in  abject  poverty — badly  congested  portions — aban- 
doned by  churches.  Nor  are  they  reached,  except  in  a  frag- 
mentary way,  by  any  Christian  agency.  Vastly  greater  areas 
in  the  country,  over  which  are  scattered  yet  larger  numbers  of 


A  TWENTIETH  CENTURY  VIEW  429 

people,  as  the  surveys  reported  above  abundantly  show,  are 
also  without  churches  or  Bible  schools. 

The  extension  of  missionary  work  into  destitute  rural  regions 
will  require  to  be  prosecuted  with  even  greater  energy  than 
heretofore  to  keep  pace  with  the  incoming  and  increasing 
population,  and  that  for  an  indefinite  future.  Federation  may 
help  greatly  in  the  congested  sections;  in  others  there  is  nothing 
to  federate — frontier  and  outlying  communities  that  are 
wholly  without  Christian  organizations  or  Bible  schools.  In 
and  around  cities  having  congested  population  centers  much 
can  be  done  by  better  distribution  of  Christian  educational 
agencies.  This  must  be  done  more  systematically  than  in  the 
past.  Christian  laymen  are  demanding  it,  irrespective  of 
denominational  relations,  in  order  to  prevent  needless  waste  in 
the  Lord's  work.  In  new  work  also  churches  and  Sunday- 
schools  in  city  and  country  must  be  so  formed  and  located  as 
not  unnecessarily  to  duplicate  organizations  in  the  same  terri- 
tory. Three  or  four  or  more  evangelical  agencies  in  a  small 
community  of  ten,  twenty,  or  forty  families  prove  too  great  a 
burden,  and  must  either  be  sustained  from  outside  or  maintain 
a  feeble  existence;  when  one  organization,  upon  a  basis  that 
heartily  unites  them  all,  would  render  a  well-supported  and 
blessed  service.  The  same  principle  must  eventually  be  ap- 
plied, on  some  broad  plan,  to  all  the  religious  organizations 
in  the  entire  country  if  they  are  to  produce  economic  and  ef- 
fective fruit.  The  total  area  of  the  United  States  compris- 
ing both  land  and  water  is  about  3,000,000  square  miles, 
exclusive  of  Alaska  and  outlying  possessions.  The  great  lakes 
and  rivers  and  snow-capped  mountain  peaks  that  are  neither 
arable  nor  habitable  occupy  quite  a  fraction  of  this  total  area. 
Were  200,000  to  250,000  Sunday-schools  uniformly  distributed 
over  the  United  States,  every  family  or  person  in  the  country 
would  be  within  two  miles  of  some  Bible  school.  And,  if  that 
number  of  schools  were  limited  to  the  actually  habitable  area 
of  the  country,  every  inhabitant  would  find  a  Bible  school 
within  about  a  mile  to  a  mile  and  a  half  of  his  home.  This 
points  to  a  great  problem  of  the  near  future,  namely,  the  read- 
justment of  many  existing  Bible  schools  and  their  better  re- 
distribution, so  as  to  be  located  at  points  more  accessible  to  the 
population  they  are  aiming  to  serve.     It  would,  of  course,  be 


430  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

ridiculous  to  attempt  to  distribute  them  with  mathematical 
precision,  like  pawns  on  a  chess-board,  over  the  face  of  the 
country,  but  much  better  distribution  can  be  made  to  pro- 
mote economy  and  efficiency.  Nor  will  those  who  support  the 
Christian  forces  of  America  be  satisfied  until  this  is  systemat- 
ically and  thoroughly  accomplished. 

Spiritual  Character. — Moreover,  the  Sunday-school  must 
become  a  dominating  spiritual  power  in  every  community.  Is 
any  reform  needed?  It  should  lead  in  that  surely.  But  the 
Sunday-school  ought  also  to  stand  for  something  far  deeper 
and  higher  than  any  reform.  It  should  aim  to  re-create  and 
renew  the  human  source  of  all  reforms;  to  lead  to  a  new  birth, 
a  spiritual  life.  This  creates  the  strongest  motive  for  every 
reform  and  for  the  betterment  of  every  community  and  of 
every  life  therein.  Its  chief  mission  is  to  have  the  heart  of 
every  member  of  the  community  filled  to  its  utmost  capacity 
wth  the  highest  spiritual  power.  The  meeting  together  in 
any  place  of  persons  blessed  with  an  infilling  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  reveals  a  spiritual  power  which  the  world  recognizes  as 
from  God. 

In  the  formative  period,  for  more  than  a  generation  after 
Raikes,  the  field,  scope  and  fundamental  principles  of  the  in- 
stitution engrossed  the  attention  of  the  founders.  Following 
that  period  the  religious  atmosphere  and  spiritual  power  of  the 
Sunday-school  had  foremost  consideration.  But  soon  the 
general  desire  to  gain  popular  favor  and  have  the  institution 
sweep  over  the  whole  of  Christendom  unintentionally  seems  to 
have  relegated  the  cultivation  of  its  spiritual  power  to  a  sec- 
ondary place.  Before  and  since  the  beginning  of  this  cen- 
tury the  watchword  of  many  has  been,  "organize,  organize." 
This  has  caused  more  emphasis  and  unusual  attention  to 
be  given  to  the  machinery  of  the  institution.  Enthusiasts 
tend  to  extremes,  producing  too  complex  organizations  and 
too  cumbersome  machinery  when  their  zeal  starts  in  that 
direction.  This  more  frequently  occurs  in  conventions  and 
associations  of  schools  than  in  single  or  isolated  schools.  The 
organization,  in  such  a  case,  exhausts  too  much  of  its  energy  in 
keeping  the  machinery  in  motion,  and  simply  "marks  time"  as 
to  any  productive  results.  Many  such  organizations  have  had 
periods  of  suspended  animation,  or  have  died  outright. 


A  TWENTIETH  CENTURY  VIEW  431 

Another  class  of  religious  educators  in  Great  Britain  and 
America  have  insisted  upon  the  introduction  of  more  complete 
school  methods  into  all  phases  of  Sunday-school  work.  Where 
this  view  prevails,  the  objection  has  been  made  that  it  accentu- 
ates too  strongly  the  intellectual  and  the  academic  features, 
and  that  it  practically  exalts  "culture"  into  the  foremost  place, 
rather  than  primarily  seeking  to  make  and  develop  disciples  of 
Jesus  Christ.  The  effect,  it  is  alleged,  is  rather  to  study  and 
treat  all  forms  of  religion  as  "cults,"  to  be  investigated.  Chris- 
tianity is  thus  taught  as  one  of  the  great  religions,  the  best,  it 
may  be,  but  a. "cult"  in  its  essential  nature  rather  than  a  life. 
This  misplacing  of  emphasis  has  not  escaped  the  severest  crit- 
icism in  some  quarters,  and  it  is  rejected  as  unscriptural  and 
unscientific. 

Some  series  of  lessons  have  been  condemned  for  their  bias, 
as  supporters  of  the  "cult"  theory  of  Christianity.  Allied  to 
this,  came  also  the  charge  that  the  new  Graded  Lessons  were 
intellectual  and  academic,  and  either  rejected  or  minimized 
the  evangelical  doctrines  of  the  new  birth,  the  resurrection, 
arid  the  supernatural  character  of  the  spiritual  life.  The  in- 
tellectual was  exalted  to  the  place  of  the  spiritual,  it  was 
charged,  and  the  spiritual  birth  and  life  practically  denied  or 
ignored.  This  criticism  has  been  disputed.  The  advocates 
of  the  completer  school  methods  assert  that  they  center  in 
Jesus  Christ,  and  are  as  promotive  of  the  Christ  life  as  is 
the  other. 

The  controversy  regarding  correct  educational  theories  and 
the  best  system  of  Sunday-school  study  has  been  going  on  for 
a  century,  and  while  many  related  obscurities  have  been 
cleared  up,  the  main  questions  are  yet  open  and  far  from  settled. 
Looking  at  the  two  systems,  the  International  Uniform  and 
the  Graded  Lessons,  after  years  of  testing,  what  do  we  see? 
Broadly,  that  the  claims  of  the  ardent  supporters  of  the 
Uniform  System,  in  securing  a  comprehensive  knowledge  of  the 
Bible,  have  not  been  fully  realized.  Nor  have  the  prophecies 
of  its  critics,  of  great  disaster  from  its  inherent  weakness,  been 
fulfilled.  The  Uniform  Series  created  marvelous  enthusiasm 
and  a  co-operation  and  unity  of  spirit  that  astonished  even  its 
friends.  But  in  practical  working  it  revealed  defects  and 
weaknesses  that  prevented  it  from  attaining  the  rich  harvests 


432  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

that  some  predicted.  This,  its  friends  assert,  is  merely  to  con- 
fess that  it  has  imperfections  such  as  belong  to  all  things 
human. 

For  the  "New  Graded  Systems"  (special  grading  of  lesson 
texts)  it  is  claimed  that  they  are  scientific,  putting  the  child 
first  and  the  teaching  material  second,  and  giving  a  more 
comprehensive  and  exact  knowledge  of  the  Bible.  It  is  con- 
ceded that  better  teachers  and  some  specially  trained  ones 
may  be  required;  that  the  enthusiasm  which  arises  from  num- 
bers in  mass  may  be  lost;  that  separate  rooms  are  more  essen- 
tial than  under  the  Uniform  plan.  But  it  is  affirmed  that  all 
these  difficulties  are  overbalanced  by  the  closer  adaptation  of 
the  material  to  be  taught  in  the  distinct  periods  of  child  devel- 
opment. 

On  the  other  hand,  biblical  scholars  and  some  prominent 
educators  have  criticized  the  "new  graded  lessons"  as  defective 
at  the  very  point  where  its  advocates  claim  them  to  be  perfect; 
to  wit,  in  minute  grading  to  fit  every  successive  step  in  child 
growth.  It  was  noted  that  British  and  American  workers  did 
not  agree  upon  the  extent  to  which  the  grading  of  the  material, 
or  grading  of  the  teaching  even,  should  be  carried.  The 
Americans  went  to  the  extreme  of  seventeen  or  more  grades  of 
lessons  between  the  Cradle  Roll  Department  and  that  for  the 
adult  of  twenty  years.  This  implied  that  a  well-graded  school 
might  be  studying  seventeen  different  passages  of  Scripture  in 
seventeen  classes  of  the  same  school  at  the  same  time.  Prac- 
tical teachers  have  asked  if  this  does  not  assume  that  the 
children  of  the  present  generation  are  of  equal  capacity  (on 
the  average)  at  a  given  age.  They  question  this  assumption. 
They  further  inquire  how  it  is  possible,  without  violence  and 
risk  of  disaster,  to  chop  child  and  adolescent  life  into  so  dis- 
tinct periods,  terminating  at  a  uniform,  definite  age:  as  the 
Primary  at  eight,  the  Junior  at  twelve,  and  the  next  at  sixteen. 
Experience  indicates  that  the  children  of  one  community,  in 
one  set  of  circumstances,  might  be  further  advanced  at  twelve 
years  of  age  than  those  in  another  community,  under  a  different 
environment,  might  be  at  sixteen  years  of  age.  To  determine 
grading  by  an  arbitrary  age  limit,  it  is  alleged,  is  contrary  to 
the  best  educational  experience  and  to  pedagogical  methods. 
When  this  scheme  is  carried  arbitrarily  into  yearly  grading,  the 


A  TWENTIETH  CENTURY  VIEW  433 

system  is  declared  to  be  destitute  of  good  sense  and  often 
positively  ludicrous  in  practice.  It  is  further  affirmed  that  it 
tends  to  increase  the  number  of  backward  pupils  instead  of 
promoting  progress.  The  theory  also  puts  the  emphasis  on 
the  wrong  part  of  education — the  mere  acquisition  of  knowl- 
edge. The  essential  thing  in  true  education  is  not  knowledge, 
but  right  thinking  and  good  character.  Serious  difficulties 
have  been  met  at  every  stage  of  progress  in  the  Graded  as  in  the 
Uniform  Series  of  lessons.  For  years  schemes  of  lessons  have 
been  freely  thrown  open  to  the  entire  Sunday-school  world  to 
test.  The  ideal  system,  or  one  that  approaches  general  satis- 
faction, has  not  yet  emerged  from  these  long  testings.1 

Preparedness  for  the  Task. — The  past  history  of  the  Sunday- 
school  movement  enforces  the  need  for  preparedness  for  the 
task  yet  before  it.  Viewing  the  great  work  that  has  been  done, 
with  the  many  diverse  forces  engaged,  and  the  vaster  task 
yet  to  be  done  to  bring  the  masses  under  Bible  instruction,  it 
is  evident  that  all  the  agencies  hitherto  employed  must  be 
greatly  enlarged,  their  efficiency  and  support  immensely  in- 
creased, to  win  the  field  for  the  Church  and  for  Christ. 

The  average  Sunday-school  must  be  far  better  organized  in 
city  and  country,  and  the  form  of  organization  made  more 
flexible  and  better  fitted  to  the  conditions  of  the  people  it  aims 
to  serve.  It  should  be  housed  better  in  buildings  suited  to  the 
work  required.  The  very  meager  equipment  now  widely 
prevalent  is  a  disgrace  to  our  Christianity;  it  should  be 
promptly  remedied  by  providing  the  best  manuals  of  methods, 
the  simplest  but  best  handbooks,  dictionaries,  and  reference 
libraries  of  biblical  exposition  and  interpretation,  the  most 
approved  and  standard  treatises  on  child  nurture  and  develop- 
ment, the  latest  and  sanest  suggestions  on  social  service,  recre- 
ation, play  and  work,  and,  above  all,  the  best  inspirational 
periodicals  and  books  on  the  spiritual  life — no  dull,  dyspeptic 
meditations  of  doleful  tone,  but  cheery,  bright,  burning  spirit- 
ual truths,  hot  from  a  heart  on  fire  with  love  to  Christ. 

If  the  history  of  this  enterprise  reveals  any  one  thing  more 
clearly  than  another,  it  is  that  the  best  organized,  best  housed, 

'See  Prof.  J.  R.  Sampey,  International  Lesson  System;  Prof.  Ira  M.  Prior  on  Graded 
Lessons,  in  Encyclopaedia  of  Sunday-Schools,  pp.  465-467;  Frank  Johnson,  British  Graded 
Lessons,  pp.  465-467;  Sunday-School  World,  1912,  pp.  6,  7,  and  1914,  1916;  Handbook 
of  the  International  Lessons,  1872-1917,  revised  edition,  by  Edwin  W.  Rice,  D.D. 


434  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

and  best  equipped  Sunday-school,  without  spiritual  power  and 
the  inspiration  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  is  like  a  professing  Christian 
without  love — "sounding  brass  and  a  clanging  cymbal.' ' 

Furthermore,  the  early  historic  efforts  to  unite  all  in  this 
supreme  task  must  be  renewed  with  ten-fold  energy  and  con- 
secration. The  training  of  teachers  and  of  capable  leaders  for 
all  the  forces  should  become  universal,  deeply  imbued  with 
the  consuming  desire  to  win  every  life  in  its  every  phase,  and  to 
have  it  educated,  trained,  and  fully  consecrated  to  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ. 

SKETCHES   OF   PROMINENT  WORKERS 

Morris  Ketchum  Jesup  (1830-1908),  Sixth  President  of  the 
American  Sunday-School  Union  (1896-1908). 

"The  American  Sunday-School  Union  took  hold  of  my  heart 
when  I  was  a  boy,"  said  Mr.  Jesup  in  1896.  "I  remember  very 
well — one  of  the  earliest  recollections  of  my  life—when  my 
father  told  me  about  this  Sunday-School  Union,  and  he  be- 
came so  interested  in  its  work  that  he  contributed  toward  the 
expenses  of  a  missionary  in  Virginia.  I  like  this  work  also 
because  it  is  so  catholic.  It  is  a  type  of  what  we  want  as  Chris- 
tian unity.  I  like  it  also  because  it  is  so  thoroughly  evangel- 
ical. I  like  it  also  because  it  has  stood  the  test  of  these  seventy- 
two  years  and  has  never  been  found  wanting.  ...  I  like  the 
Sunday-School  Union  because  it  has  fixedness  of  purpose,  and 
because  it  has  principle  behind  its  work."  1 

Mr.  Jesup  was  born  in  Westport,  Connecticut,  June  21, 1830, 
and  when  he  was  eight  years  old  the  family  moved  to  New 
York.  Soon  after  his  father  died.  At  an  early  age  he  began 
a  business  career,  in  which  he  developed  signal  ability,  sagacity 
and  a  capacity  for  managing  large  mercantile  and  railway 
enterprises.  It  would  take  a  volume  to  give  an  adequate 
notice  of  the  many  business,  civil,  philanthropic,  and  Chris- 
tian institutions  with  which  Mr.  Jesup  was  connected,  chief  of 
which  were  the  New  York  Chamber  of  Commerce,  Young 
Men's  Christian  Association,  Metropolitan  Museum,  and  the 
American  Sunday-School  Union.  Numerous  colleges — Prince- 
ton, Yale,  Williams,  and  Union  Theological  Seminary — were 
recipients  of  his  generous  gifts.     The  Museum  of  Natural 

. »  The  Sunday-School  World,  1S96,  p.  229. 


A  TWENTIETH  CENTURY  VIEW  435 

History  of  New  York  received  $1,000,000  from  him,  and  he 
was  a  generous  patron  of  art  and  a  liberal  contributor  toward 
Arctic  and  other  exploring  expeditions. 

To  the  institutions  of  which  he  was  president  it  has  been 
justly  said  he  gave  four  things — time,  money,  thought,  and 
enthusiasm.  In  his  generous  gifts  to  the  American  Sunday- 
School  Union  there  was  an  added  graceful  personal  touch — 
for  years  he  was  accustomed  to  send  $1,000  to  be  distributed 
as  a  special  gift  to  the  missionaries  of  the  Society.  He  and 
Mrs.  Jesup  supported  one  or  more  missionaries  of  the  Union 
for  many  years;  their  gifts,  during  life,  amounting  to  over 
$35,000,  and  a  bequest  of  $150,000  was  made  by  Mrs.  Jesup. 

Mr.  Jesup  was  vice-president  of  the  Union  for  about  ten 
years  and  president  for  nearly  twelve  years.  The  Hon.  Seth 
Low  happily  voiced  the  esteem  in  which  Mr.  Jesup  was  held  in 
business  circles:  "Like  the  flower  of  the  century  plant,  his  life 
has  come  to  an  end,  simply  because  it  had  reached  its  perfect 
bloom,  and  we  thank  God  that  it  was  given  to  us  to  see  it  in  all 
its  beauty."  l 

James  M.  Crowell,  D.D.  (1827-1908),  Secretary  of  Missions 

(1883-1908). 

With  great  practical  wisdom,  suavity  and  efficiency  Rev. 
Dr.  James  M.  Crowell  served  as  Secretary  of  Missions  for  the 
American  Sunday-School  Union  about  twenty-five  years. 
His  success  as  pastor,  his  ability  as  a  speaker  and  his  famil- 
iarity with,  and  frequent  advocacy  of,  the  work  of  the  Union 
during  this  period,  added  to  the  fact  that  he  had  caught  the 
spirit  of  the  work  from  a  former  secretary  who  was  an  influ- 
ential officer  in  his  church  (Maurice  A.  Wurts),  led  a  friend 
and  prominent  manager,  B.  B.  Comegys,  to  propose  him  for 
the  responsible  position. 

A  plan  had  been  formed  for  removing  the  heavy  debt  of  the 
Society  and  adding  to  its  capital,  so  as  to  enlarge  its  operations. 
Some  one  able  forcibly  to  present  its  claims  to  assemblies  as 
well  as  to  conduct  its  missionary  operations  was  needed  at  the 
head  of  the  Missionary  Department.  Dr.  Crowell  heartily 
threw  himself  into  these  plans  and  contributed  his  full  share 

1  See  also  William  Adams  Brown,  A  Character  Sketch,  Morris  Kctchum  Jesup,  New 
York,  1910. 


436  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

toward  the  successful  placing  of  the  Society  and  its  work  upon 
an  improved  financial  basis.  He  won  friends  for  the  Society 
by  his  sincerity,  his  affable  manners,  and  his  delicate  courtesy, 
which  are  characteristic  of  a  refined  Christian  gentleman.  A 
clear  thinker,  firm  in  his  convictions,  he  was  tactful  in  pro- 
moting cordial  co-operation  in  the  co-ordinate  departments  of 
the  Society's  work,  and  in  securing  the  highest  efficiency. 
While  having  essential  views  of  his  own,  he  could  gracefully 
respect  the  views  of  co-workers.  With  true  magnanimity  he 
perceived  that  the  effort  to  remove  the  Society's  indebtedness 
would,  in  the  end,  not  diminish  but  increase  the  income  for  its 
missionary  work,  and  this  proved  to  be  true. 

His  keen  sense  of  humor  and  his  cheerfulness,  which  always 
looked  at  the  bright  side  of  every  difficult  problem,  cheered  his 
co-workers  in  the  field;  for  this  characteristic  was  reflected  in 
all  his  communications,  even  with  the  discouraged  mission- 
aries. The  efficiency  of  the  Society's  work  during  his  admin- 
istration is  shown  in  part,  at  least,  by  the  record  of  43,964  new 
schools,  with  179,632  teachers  and  1,552,850  scholars,  besides 
8,240  reorganized  schools  and  2,047  churches  grown  from  the 
Sunday-schools  organized,  and  143,281  hopeful  conversions 
reported  among  the  scholars.  His  genial  and  efficient  admin- 
istration is  a  red-letter  chapter  in  the  Society's  mission  history. 
The  field  workers  all  respected  and  loved  him  because  he 
knew  how  to  give  instructions  pleasantly,  to  correct  mistakes 
kindly,  to  rebuke  when  necessary,  in  love,  and  to  cheer  the  dis- 
couraged and  unfortunate  and  inspire  them  with  fresh  cour- 
age and  new  hope.  His  services  during  the  constructive 
period  at  the  close  of  the  last  century  were  of  immense  value 
in  the  work  of  putting  the  Society  upon  a  strong  financial 
basis.  He  keenly  appreciated  the  advantage  of  good  "team 
work"  with  his  associates  and  heartily  enjoyed  it,  and  contrib- 
uted his  full  share  toward  success  until  the  Master  called  him 
to  receive  his  reward. 


APPENDIX 


Raikes*  Record. — The  notice  in  the  Gloucester  Journal,  November  3> 
1783,  of  Raikes'  schools  was  as  follows: 

Some  of  the  clergy,  in  different  parts  of  this  county,  bent 
upon  attempting  a  reform  among  the  children  of  the  lower 
class,  are  establishing  Sunday-schools,  for  rendering  the  Lord's 
Day  subservient  to  the  ends  of  instruction,  which  has  hitherto 
been  prostituted  to  bad  purposes.  Farmers,  and  other  in- 
habitants of  the  towns  and  villages,  complain  that  they  receive 
more  injury  in  their  property  on  the  Sabbath  than  all  the 
week  besides;  this,  in  a  great  measure,  proceeds  from  the  law- 
less state  of  the  younger  class,  who  are  allowed  to  run  wild  on 
that  day,  free  from  every  restraint.  To  remedy  this  evil,  per- 
sons duly  qualified  are  employed  to  instruct  those  that  cannot 
read;  and  those  that  may  have  learnt  to  read,  are  taught  the 
Catechism  and  conducted  to  church.  By  thus  keeping  their 
minds  engaged,  the  day  passes  profitably,  and  not  disagree- 
ably. In  those  parishes  where  the  plan  has  been  adopted,  we 
are  assured  that  the  behaviour  of  the  children  is  greatly  civil- 
ized. 

The  barbarous  ignorance  in  which  they  had  before  lived, 
being  in  some  degree  dispelled,  they  begin  to  give  proofs  that 
those  persons  are  mistaken  who  consider  the  lower  orders  of 
mankind  incapable  of  improvement  and  therefore  think  an 
attempt  to  reclaim  them  impracticable  or,  at  least,  not  worth 
the  trouble. 

Colonel  Townley  of  Lancashire,  near  Liverpool,  saw  this  notice  and 
wrote  Raikes,  who  recounted  the  beginning  of  his  enterprise  to  Townley 
more  fully,  November  25,  1783: 

The  beginning  of  the  scheme  was  entirely  owing  to  accident. 
Some  business  leading  me  one  morning  into  the  suburbs  of  the 
city,  where  the  lowest  of  the  people  (who  are  principally  em- 
ployed in  the  pin  manufactory)  chiefly  reside,  I  was  struck  with 
concern  at  seeing  a  group  of  children,  wretchedly  ragged,  at 
play  in  the  streets.  I  asked  an  inhabitant  whether  those 
children  belonged  to  that  part  of  the  town,  and  lamented  their 
misery  and  idleness.  "Ah!  sir,"  said  the  woman  to  whom  I  was 
speaking,  "could  you  take  a  view  of  this  part  of  the  town  on 
Sunday,  you  would  be  shocked  indeed;  for  then  the  street  is 
filled  with  multitudes  of  these  wretches,  who,  released  on  that 
day  from  employment,  spend  their  time  in  noise  and  riot,  play- 
ing at  'chuck,'  and  cursing  and  swearing  in  a  manner  so  horrid 

437 


438  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

as  to  convey  to  any  serious  mind  an  idea  of  hell  rather  than  any 
other  place.  We  have  a  worthy  clergyman,  [the  Rev.  Thomas 
Stock],  curate  of  our  parish,  who  has  put  some  of  them  to 
school;  but  upon  the  Sabbath  they  are  all  given  up  to  follow 
their  own  inclinations  without  restraint,  as  their  parents, 
totally  abandoned  themselves,  have  no  idea  of  instilling  into 
the  minds  of  their  children  principles  to  which  they  them- 
selves are  entire  strangers."1 

Voluntary  Plan. — That  Raikes  conceived  and  applied  the  voluntary 
principle  is  fairly  implied  by  the  letter  of  November  5th,  1787,  to  Mrs. 
Harris.    In  answer  to  her  queries,  he  says: 

I  endeavour  to  assemble  the  children  as  early  as  is  consistent 
with  their  perfect  cleanliness — an  indispensable  rule.  The  hour 
prescribed  in  our  rules  is  eight  o'clock,  but  it  is  usually  half 
after  eight  before  our  flock  is  collected.  Twenty  is  the  number 
allotted  to  each  teacher;  the  sexes  kept  separate.  The  twenty 
are  divided  into  four  classes;  the  children  who  show  any  supe- 
riority in  attainments  are  placed  as  leaders  of  the  several  classes 
and  are  employed  in  teaching  the  others  their  letters,  or  in  hear- 
ing them  read  in  a  low  whisper,  which  may  be  done  without  in- 
terrupting the  master  or  mistress  in  their  business.  .  .  . 

To  those  children  who  distinguish  themselves  as  examples 
of  diligence,  quietness  in  behaviour,  observance  of  order,  kindness 
to  their  companions,  etc.,  I  give  some  little  token  of  my  regard, 
as  a  pair  of  shoes,  if  they  are  barefooted,  and  some  who  are  very 
bare  of  apparel  I  clothe.  .  .  .  Besides,  I  frequently  go  around 
to  their  habitations  to  inquire  into  their  behaviour  at  home 
and  into  the  conduct  of  the  parents,  to  whom  I  give  some  little 
hints  now  and  then,  as  well  as  to  the  children.  .  .  . 

The  stipend  to  the  teachers  [masters]  here  is  a  shilling  each 
Sunday;  but  we  find  them  firing,  and  bestow  gratuities  as  re- 
wards of  diligence,  which  may  make  it  worth  six  pense  more.  .  .  . 

He  throws  a  bit  of  personal  history  into  this  letter  to  Mrs. 
Harris.  I  must  now  tell  you  that  I  am  blessed  with  six  ex- 
cellent girls  and  two  lovely  boys.  My  oldest  boy  was  born  the 
very  day  I  made  public  to  the  world  the  scheme  of  Sunday- 
schools  in  my  paper  of  Nov.  3,  1783.  In  four  years'  time  it  has 
extended  so  rapidly  as  now  to  include  250,000  children;  it  is 
increasing  more  and  more. 

The  employment  of  paid  teachers  and  their  gradual  super- 
session by  voluntary  teachers  has,  not  unnaturally,  given  rise 
to  popular  misconception.  The  most  important,  indeed  vital, 
working  principle  of  the  Sunday-school  was,  from  the  first, 
voluntaryism;  and  the  initial  impulse  for  the  formation  and 
support  of  schools  always  came  from  some  individual  or  com- 
mittee undertaking  their  general  management.  The  "Master" 
or  "Mistress"  was  often  the  tenant  in  whose  kitchen  the  school 
was  held,  and  was  paid  partly  for  services  rendered  and  partly 
for  rent ;  when  the  school  grew  and  assistants  were  needed,  they 
were  also  paid.     This  was  the  rule.     Behind  the  "master," 

1  Gentleman's  Magazine,  June,  1784. 


APPENDIX  439 

"mistress,"  and  "assistants"  there  was  the  patron  or  committee, 
and  it  seems  to  have  been  the  custom  for  one  of  these  to  give 
directions  to  the  "master"  or  "mistress,"  and  personally  super- 
intend the  religious  instruction  given  to  the  children.  .  .  .  The 
paid  teacher,  at  first,  was  made  responsible  for  the  good  behav- 
iour, cleanliness,  and  ability  of  the  children  to  read  and  repeat 
their  lessons;  then  the  work  of  the  Sunday-school,  as  a  religious 
agency,  passed  into  other  hands  whose  work  was  purely  voluntary. 
.  .  .  The  school  with  which  Robert  Raikes  was  most  closely 
identified  (the  St.  Mary  de  Crypt)  had  only  one  paid  teacher; 
the  most  promising  of  the  scholars  assisting  her  as  "monitors." 
He  charged  himself  with  giving  religious  instruction,  and  the 
work  fascinated  him,  so  that  what  at  first  was  a  duty  became  a 
pleasure,  and  then  a  passion.  .  .  .  We  can,  however,  hardly 
appreciate  the  great  services  rendered  to  humanity  by  those 
who  received  into  their  kitchens  and  instructed  the  evil-smelling 
outcasts  sent  to  them;  but,  to  be  accurate,  we  must  separate  them 
from  an  institution  founded  in  voluntary  effort  as  something 
foreign  to  its  spirit,  otherwise  we  may  regard  the  general  pres- 
ence of  the  voluntary  teacher  as  a  later  development  instead  of 
part  of  the  original  design.1 

Discipline  in  Raikes'  Schools. — Of  the  discipline  in  Raikes'  schools, 
William  Brick,  a  Sunday  scholar,  who  attended  the  funeral  when  Raikes 
died  and  received  a  cake  and  a  shilling  along  with  the  rest,  says: 

I  can  remember  Mr.  Raikes  well  enough.  I  remember  his 
caning  me.  I  don't  suppose  I  minded  it  much.  He  used  to 
cane  boys  on  the  back  of  a  chair. 

Some  tumble  bad  chaps  went  to  school  when  I  first  went. 
There  were  always  bad  'uns  coming  in.  I  know  the  parents  of 
one  or  two  of  them  used  to  walk  them  to  school  with  fourteen 
pound  weights  tied  to  their  legs.  .  .  .  Sometimes  boys  would 
be  sent  to  school  with  logs  of  wood  tied  to  their  ankles,  just  as 
though  they  were  wild  jackasses,  which  I  suppose  they  were, 
only  worse.  .  .  . 

When  a  boy  was  very  bad  he  would  take  him  out  of  the 
school,  and  march  him  home  and  get  his  parents  to  "wallop" 
him.  He'd  stop  and  see  it  done,  and  then  bring  the  urchin 
back,  rubbing  his  eyes  and  other  places.  Mr.  Raikes  was  a 
terror  to  all  evil  doers  and  a  praise  to  them  that  did  well. 
Everyone  in  the  city  loved  and  feared  him.2 

Raikes  a  Bible  Student. — Recent  researches  have  shown  that  Robert 
Raikes  was  not  only  a  Christian  philanthropist,  he  was  also  a  reader  and 
a  loving  student  of  the  Bible.  Writing  to  the  Rev.  William  Lewelyn, 
whose  expositions  of  the  book  of  Revelation  he  had  printed,  he  says: 

There  is  some  pleasure  in  printing  works  that  purify  and 
elevate  the  heart  and  fit  it  for  an  intercourse  with  the  mansions 
of  eternity.  .  .  .  You  seem  to  draw  back  the  veil  that  conceals 

1  J.  Henry  Harris,  The  Story  of  the  Sunday  School,  pp.  50-52. 

2  J.  Henry  Harris,  Robert  Raikes:  The  Man  and  His  Work,  pp.  37,  38. 


440  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

from  mortals  the  hidden  things  of  God.  .  .  .  There  are  two  or 
three  passages  that  strike  me  very  forcibly.  They  dart  a  degree 
of  illumination  into  the  mind  that  comes  very  nearly  to  what 
1  have  felt  when  perusing  the  pen  of  inspiration. 

Citing  "these  and  many  other  similar  expressions  of  Raikes,  his  biog- 
rapher, Harris,  remarks:}  "If  Robert  Raikes  was  such  a  Bible  student 
and  such  a  firm  believer  in  the  divine  love,  and  mercy,  and  promises,  is 
it  not  true  that  his  was  a  religious  life;  and  that  the  Sunday-school, 
through  him,  is  Bible-rooted?"1 

Fox's  Wish  for  the  Bible. — William  Fox,  leading  co-worker  with  Robert 
Raikes  in  the  founding  of  Sunday-schools,  also  expressed  his  desire 
"that  every  poor  person  in  the  kingdom  might  be  able  to  read  the  Bible." 
In  his  address  to  his  friends  at  the  founding  of  the  Sunday-School  Society, 
among  other  things,  he  said : 

Great  however  as  the  temporal  evils  of  the  poor  are  and 
numerous  as  their  wants  appear,  for  these  I  ask  no  relief,  but  I 
do  ask,  nay  I  entreat,  your  aid  for  the  support  of  schools,  that 
while  the  poor  remain  destitute  of  the  comforts  of  this  life  they 
may  not  be  altogether  unacquainted  with  that  which  is  to  come. 
.  .  .  Without  a  Bible  in  their  houses — and  if  they  had,  .without 
ability  to  read  it — too  much  neglected  by  the  clergy  as  well  as  de- 
serted by  others,  the  poor  live  as  the  beasts  that  perish.  What 
an  opportunity  there  is  here  of  displaying  that  generosity  for 
which  the  heathen  were  so  renowned. 

Then,  referring  to  the  society  for  promoting  religious  knowledge  among 
the  poor,  he  adds: 

Suffice  it  to  say  there  is  but  one  thing  wanting  to  make  it  one 
of  the  most  benevolent  institutions  that  has  yet  been  estab- 
lished. You  will  readily  perceive  the  one  thing  to  which  I 
allude  is  that  now  submitted  to  your  consideration — for  what 
use  are  Bibles  to  those  who  cannot  read  them? 

This  was  his  plea  for  the  organization  of  a  Sunday-school 
society.2 

Joseph  Lancaster  also,  another  of  the  influential  supporters  of  Sunday- 
schools,  was  well  known  to  have  insisted  upon  the  Bible  as  a  chief  text- 
book rather  than  the  creeds  and  catechisms  in  the  schools  which  were 
founded  by  him  and  his  followers. 

We  have  here  the  testimony  of  three  of  the  leaders  in  the  early  move- 
ment who  insisted  upon  the  Bible  as  the  chief  text-book  in  Sunday- 
school. 

Opposition  to  Sunday-Schools. — Robert  Raikes'  Sunday-school  move- 
merrt  did  not  escape  opposing  forces  from  its  beginning.  "How  long 
adverse  forces  were  gathering  strength  we  cannot  say."     But  in  1797, 

1  J.  Henry  Harris,  The  Story  of  Robert  Raikes,  pp.  94-97. 
*  Powers,  Rise  and  Progress  of  Sunday-Schools,  pp.  62-68. 


APPENDIX  441 

when  the  system  was  supposed  to  be  secure  from  malicious  opposition, 
the  Gentleman's  Magazine,  of  London,  which  had  spoken  in  favor  of  the 
movement,  opened  its  columns  to  an  old  and  valued  contributor  to  make 
a  "slashing  onslaught  on  the  Sunday-schools  and  their  founders."  This 
article  was  written  over  the  signature  "Eusebius,"  a  clergyman  who 
voiced  the  growing  apprehension  that  the  education  of  the  poor  would 
unfit  them  for  menial  service,  raise  discontent,  and  foment  rebellion. 
His  long  article  concludes  in  these  severe  terms: 

We  may,  therefore,  conclude  that  the  Sunday-school  is  so  far 
from  being  the  wise,  useful,  or  prudential  institution  it  is  said  to 
be,  that  it  is  in  reality  productive  of  no  valuable  advantage, 
but,  on  the  contrary,  is  subversive  of  that  order,  that  industry, 
that  peace  and  tranquility  which  constituted  the  happiness  of 
society;  and  that,  so  far  from  deserving  encouragement  and  ap- 
plause, it  merits  our  contempt,  and  ought  to  be  exploded  as  the 
vain  chimerical  institution  of  a  visionary  projector.1 

For  persecutions,  prosecutions,  and  false  charges  against  Hannah 
More  and  her  Sunday-schools  and  Sunday-school  work,  the  reader  is 
referred  to  Memoirs  of  Hannah  More  by  William  Roberts,  2  vols.,  New 
York,  1835. 

Furthermore,  a  strong  opposition  to  Sunday-schools  came  from  Scot- 
land. In  1798  the  Rev.  Thomas  Burns  preached  two  sermons  against 
the  introduction  of  the  system  into  Scotland.    He  declared: 

I  can  see  no  necessity  for  the  institution,  and  I  am  afraid  men 
do  not  consider  the  effects  that  are  likely  to  follow.  .  .  .  From 
the  wise  institution  of  parochial  schools,  every  parish  in  Scot- 
land is  provided  with  the  means  of  instruction.  .  .  . 

Sunday-schools,  then,  are  reflections  on  every  parish  where 
they  are  appointed;  nay,  more,  they  are  reflections  upon  every 
parent  in  that  parish. 

He  closes  one  of  his  sermons  as  follows: 

My  great  objection  to  Sunday-schools  is  that  I  am  afraid 
they  will  in  the  end  destroy  all  family  religion,  and  whatever  has 
tendency  to  do  this  I  consider  it  is  my  duty  to  guard  you  against. 
I  might  also  show  that  these  schools  are  hurtful  to  public  religion, 
for  it  consists  with  my  knowledge  that  children  stay  at  home 
from  church  to  prepare  their  questions  for  the  even;  and  their 
families  are  divided  when  they  ought  to  be  together.2 

Sunday-Schools  Before  Robert  Raikes  (1780). — The  places  and  per- 
sons claiming  to  have  had  a  Sunday-school  previous  to  that  of  Raikes, 
in  Gloucester,  1780,  are  very  numerous.  A  controversy  in  regard  to 
these  rival  claims  has  been  long  continued  and  is  still  an  unsettled  ques- 

1  J.  Henry  Harris,  Robert  Raikes:  The  Man  and  His  Work,  p.  92. 
*Ibid.,  p.  98. 


442  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

tion.  The  question  is  not  simply  one  of  priority  of  date,  nor  is  it  one 
alone  of  the  particular  form  of  either  of  these  schools,  although  both  the 
date  and  the  form  are  elements  in  this  dispute.  Behind  these  is  the  more 
fundamental  question  in  regard  to  which,  if  any,  of  these  schools  had  a 
sufficient  number  of  features  of  the  modern  Sunday-school  movement 
to  be  recognized  as  similar  to  Raikes'  movement.  Sometimes  the  dis- 
putants seem  to  us  to  raise  technical  objections  which  amount  to  little 
more  than  quibbles. 

One  writer  objects  to  the  claim  of  Ephrata,  Pennsylvania,  because 
that  school  was  held  on  the  seventh  day  [the  rest  or  Sabbath  observed 
by  that  religious  sect]  rather  than  on  the  first  day,  or  Sunday.  This 
Episcopal  writer  (Rev.  O.  S.  Michael),  perhaps,  has  overlooked  the  fact 
that  one  of  the  bishops  of  the  Church  of  England  suggested  that  a  Sunday- 
school,  following  Raikes  plan,  be  held  on  Saturday  instead  of  Sunday,  to 
avoid  certain  objections  made  in  his  church. 

Other  writers  claim  that  the  so-called  Sunday-schools  in  New  England, 
previous  to  1780,  were  catechetical  classes,  or  were  essentially  day  schools, 
having  neither  the  form  nor  the  methods  of  the  modern  Sunday-school. 

Of  the  reputed  Sunday-school  in  Christ  Church  Parish,  Savannah, 
Georgia,  said  to  have  been  begun  by  John  Wesley,  1737,' one  writer 
asserts,  "Nothing  is  better  authenticated  than  that  the  institution  which 
has  given  rise  to  this  chronicle  was  the  ordinary  parish  day  school,  taught 
by  one,  De  La  Motte."  This  seems  to  be  corroborated  by  the  fact  that 
Wesley  does  not  appear  to  have  known  of  Sunday-schools  or  noted  them 
earlier  than  1783  or  1785,  when  he  wrote  in  The  Arminian  Magazine, 
"Who  knows  but  that  some  of  these  schools  may  become  nurseries  for 
Christians."  This  is  taken  to  imply  his  first  knowledge  of  Sunday- 
schools.1 

It  is  clear,  however,  that  some  of  the  so-called  schools  that  existed 
many  years  before  the  movement  of  Raikes  had  a  school  system  in  several 
respects  similar  to  that  planned  by  Raikes.  The  main  point  is  whether 
they  were  schools  teaching  the  catechism,  or  were  also  teaching  direct 
from  the  Bible. 

I  investigated,  at  first  hand,  some  of  the  early  schools  on  this  point. 
The  Sunday-school  at  Bethlehem,  Connecticut,  under  Dr.  Joseph  Bell- 
amy, from  1740  on,  is  thus  described  by  Dr.  Joel  Hawes  in  Ecclestiastical 
History  of  Connecticut: 

Dr.  Bellamy,  pastor  of  the  church  in  Bethlehem  in  this 
state  from  1740  until  the  time  of  his  death,  was  accustomed  to 
meet  the  youth  of  his  congregation  on  the  Sabbath,  not  merely 
for  a  catechetical  exercise,  but  for  a  recitation  from  the  Bible, 
accompanied  with  familiar  instruction  suited  to  the  capacities 
of  the  young.  In  this  exercise,  too,  he  was  often  assisted  by  the 
members  of  his  church. 

1  The  Arminian  Magazine,  January,  1785. 


APPENDIX  443 

What  better  language  could  be  used  to  describe  an  ordinary  Sunday- 
school  of  the  present  day?  It  was  further  asserted  by  another  pastor 
of  the  church  "that  he  had  reason  to  believe  they  had  never  been  without 
a  Sabbath-school  from  the  earliest  settlement  of  the  town."  In  confirma- 
tion of  this  fact,  it  is  said  that  the  colony,  from  its  early  settlement,  had 
a  law  requiring  "heads  of  families  to  teach  their  children  and  servants 
to  read  well,"  and  fining  every  family  twenty  shillings  for  neglect  of  it.1 
Schools  similar  in  form  and  with  like  instruction,  held  on  Sunday,  were 
quite  wide-spread  in  New  England  in  the  early  part  of  the  eighteenth 
century. 

In  regard  to  the  school  at  Ephrata,  Pennsylvania,  I  made  a  careful 
investigation  of  its  history  in  company  with  the  Rev.  C.  Reimensnyder 
who  was  versed  in  their  language  (Pennsylvania  Dutch)  and  spoke  it 
fluently.  This  school  was  under  the  direction  of  a  German  Community, 
which  separated  from  the  Dunkards  or  German  Baptists  in  1728  and 
were  led  by  Conrad  Beissel,  who  observed  the  seventh  instead  of  the  first 
day  of  the  week  as  the  Christian  Sabbath.  They  had  a  secular  school, 
but  in  1739  "Brother  Obed" — a  title  given  to  Ludwig  Haecker — became 
teacher  of  the  school  and  immediately  began  a  Sunday-school  also  in  the 
afternoons  of  every  Sabbath  "to  give  instruction  to  the  indigent  children 
who  were  kept  from  regular  school  by  employments  which  their  neces- 
sities obliged  them  to  be  engaged  at  during  the  week,  as  well  as  to  give 
religious  instruction  to  those  of  better  circumstances."  This  much  I 
learned  from  reading  and  translating  the  original  records,  which  I  found 
in  the  "Brothers'  House."  These  ancient  records  were  freely  and  fully 
shown  to  us  and  we  were  given  ample  opportunity  to  read  and  translate 
them. 

Dr.  Fahnestock,  in  1835,  writes:  "This  school  flourished  for  many 
years.  It  produced  an  anxious  inquiry  among  the  juvenile  population, 
which  attended  the  school,  which  increased  and  grew  into  what  is  now 
termed  a  'revival'  of  religion.  The  scholars  in  the  Sabbath-school  met 
together  every  day  before  and  after  school  hours  to  pray  and  exhort  one 
another  under  the  superintendence  of  one  of  the  brethren."  When  the 
Revolutionary  War  broke  out  these  buildings  were  needed  for  a  hospital, 
and  the  one  where  the  Sabbath-school  was  held  was  given  up  for  this 
purpose.  The  Sunday-school  was  revived  by  Mr.  Reimensnyder  about 
1870,  not  in  the  old  buildings,  but  in  the  large  room  of  a  hotel.  This  new 
school  awakened  so  much  interest  among  the  people  that  they  cheerfully 
built  a  house  of  worship  for  its  accommodation  and  for  church  service. 
The  early  Sunday-school,  however,  accomplished  much  good  during  its 
thirty  years'  existence,  as  the  records  of  it  prove,  and  on  this  account  is 
entitled  to  the  prominence  which  has  hitherto  been  given  it.2 

'  The  Sunday-School  World,  1875,  p.  78. 
2  Ibid.,  1876,  pp.  17,  IS. 


444  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

From  this  and  many  other  similar  instances  which  could  be  cited  it 
is  clear  that  there  were  some  Sunday-schools  in  America  previous  to  the 
movement  under  Raikes  in  England,  and  that  these  schools  were  similar 
in  form,  had  a  similar  object,  and  that  a  prominent  feature  of  some 
was  instruction  directly  from  the  Bible.  These  facts  identify  them  as 
forerunners  of  the  modern  Sunday-school  movement. 

The  first  efforts  of  these  philanthropic  persons  were  apparently  quite 
independent  one  of  the  other.  They  evidently  were  moved  by  similar 
conditions  and  by  a  vision  of  similar  fundamental  principles  in  the  mak- 
ing of  Christian  character.  Their  plans  were  clearly  similar  to  those 
in  British  communities,  but  there  is  no  record  or  intimation  that  they 
imitated  the  plans  or  had  heard  of  the  organizations  in  England  before 
they  commenced  a  similar  movement  in  this  country. 

Robert  May. — The  record  of  Rev.  Robert  May's  Sunday-school  and 
evangelistic  work  in  Philadelphia  has  confused  writers  of  Sunday-school 
history  in  America.  Some  have  held  that  he  had  no  proper  Sunday- 
school,  but  only  a  children's  evangelistic  service,  basing  their  statements 
upon  the  records  of  the  Evangelical  Society  of  Philadelphia.  The  facts 
are  clear  that  he  held  a  Sunday-school  as  well  as  children' s.evangelistic 
services.  The  Sunday-school  was  held  on  Sunday  from  October,  1811, 
until  late  in  January,  1812.  His  evangelistic  services  for  children  were 
held  on  week  days.  His  record  for  November  17,  1811,  makes  it  clear 
that  he  had  classes  and  lessons  on  the  Sabbath,  as  in  the  modern  Sunday- 
school. 

Thus,  after  the  meeting  was  opened  by  prayer  and  singing  on  Novem- 
ber 17,  1811,  he  says: 

We  then  proceeded  to  call  and  teach  our  different  classes  which 
were  somewhat  more  regular  and  orderly  than  at  first.  We  begin 
to  know  our  children  and  they  to  know  us.  The  children  said 
their  hymns  very  well  in  general;  some  said  six  verses  in  the 
Scriptures.  Mr.  Green,  unable  to  attend  from  indisposition, 
Mr.  Smith  heard  his  class.  After  the  classes  were  all  heard,  Mr. 
Erringer  read  the  Scriptures  and  Mr.  Smith  engaged  in  prayer. 
A  hymn  was  then  sung  and  an  exhortation  to  the  children  from 
Col.  3  :  20,  the  duty  of  children  towards  their  parents.  A  few 
words  were  spoken  to  parents.    About  210  children  were  present. 

A  similar  record  follows  in  regard  to  the  sessions  on  November  24th 
and  December  1st,  and  most  of  the  following  sessions  of  the  school.  On 
November  25th  he  records  that  there  was  a  committee  meeting  which 
examined  the  proceedings  as  well  as  the  bill  for  expenses,  and  adds, 

The  number  which  attend  on  a  Sabbath  evening  was  found, 
upon  examination,  to  be  as  follows:  First  class  of  girls,  31; 
second  class  of  ^irls,  34;  third  class  of  fdrls,  3d;  fourth  class  of 
boys,  52;  fifth  class  of  boys,  51;  sixth  class  of  boys,  51. 


APPENDIX  445 

A  similar  record  of  the  different  classes  and  their  teachers  occurs  more 
than  once  in  Mr.  May's  own  handwriting  in  the  record. 

On  December  30,  1811,  there  was  a  report  to  the  committee  as  follows: 

First  class  of  girls  30,  from  which  11  have  been  erazed  [because 
of  removal];  second  class  of  girls  32,  from  which  7  have  been 
erazed;  third  class  of  girls  33,  from  which  11  have  been  erazed; 
fourth  class  of  boys  50,  from  which  9  have  been  erazed;  fifth 
class  of  boys  50,  from  which  10  have  been  erazed;  sixth  class  of 
boys  51,  from  which  8  have  been  erazed. 

Since  the  opening  of  the  school,  October  20,  1811,  we  have 
received  upwards  of  300  children;  56  have  been  erazed  for  non- 
attendance,  and  246  remain  in  the  school.  Catherine  Side  left 
the  school  last  Sabbath,  being  about  to  remove  to  Montgomery 
County.  She  appeared  very  thankful  for  instructions  that  she 
had  received,  and  suitable  advice  and  books  were  given  her  by 
the  secretary  on  this  day.  Mr.  Ely  gave  a  good  testimony  in 
favor  of  the  conduct  of  such  of  his  boys  as  attended  at  our  school. 
Mr.  Ely  is  teacher  of  the  Adelphi  school  in  this  city. 

His  record  contains  an  alphabetical  list  of  scholars  and  a  memorandum 
of  eight  scholars  from  the  school  who  had  made  a  profession  of  religion 
and  had  joined  different  churches;  the  Presbyterian,  Baptist  and  Metho- 
dist are  especially  noted.  The  manuscript  records  by  Mr.  May  were 
found  with  the  American  Sunday-School  Union. 

Who  is  the  Sectarian? 

He  alone  is  the  true  sectarian  who  forgets  that  there  is  a  common 
Christianity  as  well  as  a  Christianity  under  the  modification  of  his"  own 
party;  who  forgets  that  his  duties  to  this  common  Christianity  are  of  a 
higher  obligation  than  those  he  owes  (and  some  he  does  owe)  to  his  own 
peculiarities;  and  who  would  see  a  soul  of  man  left  to  perish  without 
concern,  if  not  saved  by  the  application  of  a  process  of  his  own.  In 
whatever  religious  body  that  man  is  found,  he  and  he  alone  is  the  true 
sectarian.1 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Divie  Bethune. — About  the  year  1812  (the  precise 
date  cannot  here  be  given)  the  attention  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bethune 
was  called  to  the  blessed  effects  of  the  Sunday-school  system  es- 
tablished in  England  by  Robert  Raikes.  Their  pious  correspond- 
ents in  England,  particularly  Stephen  Prust  (?),  Esq.,  of  Bristol, 
sent  them  many  reports  and  documents  illustrating  the  work,  and 
they  endeavored  to  awaken  the  Christian  public  to  that  great 
means  of  usefulness,  but  for  a  time  with  little  success.  Pious 
people  and  some  eminent  ministers  even  doubted  the  propriety 
of  so  occupying  the  Sabbath  day.  Mr.  Bethune,  weary  of  delay, 
at  last  said  to  Mrs.  Bethune:  "My  dear  wife,  there  is  no  use 
in  waiting  for  the  men,  do  you  gather  a  few  ladies  of  different 

1  Richard  Watson,  quoted  in  Sphere  and  Office  of  the  American  Sunday-School  Union, 
p.  6. 


446  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

denominations  and  begin  the  work  yourselves."  Mrs.  Bethune 
had  already  made  encouraging  experiments  in  two  schools,  one 
during  the  winter  near  her  city  residence  within  convenient  dis- 
tance of  Dr.  Romeyn's  church,  the  other  in  the  basement  of  her 
country-seat  between  Bank  and  Bethune  streets,  Greenwich, 
besides  starting  others  as  she  had  opportunity  during  her  sum- 
mer travels  in  different  parts  of  the  country  between  the  Hud- 
son and  the  lakes.  Intent  upon  a  wider  diffusion  of  the  blessing, 
she  determined  to  call  a  public  meeting  of  ladies  of  different 
denominations  in  Wall  Street  Church,  which  she  addressed  from 
the  clerk's  desk,  and,  aided  by  many  noble  women,  among  them 
may  be  noted  Mrs.  Francis  Hall  of  the  Methodist,  Mrs.  William 
Colgate  of  the  Baptist,  and  Miss  Ball  of  the  Dutch  churches, 
she  had  the  happiness  of  seeing  put  into  successful  operation 
"The  Female  Union  for  the  Promotion  of  Sabbath  Schools," 
which  continued,  by  its  publications,  and  its  schools  containing 
7,000  or  8,000  children,  to  exert  a  large  usefulness,  until  it  was 
absorbed  by  the  New  York  Branch  of  the  American  Sunday- 
School  Union.  There  had  been  Sunday-schools  of  various  kinds 
in  various  places  before  this.  Mrs.  Graham,  as  early  as  1792, 
had  an  adult  Sunday  evening  school  in  Mulberry  Street,  and 
Mrs.  Bethune  in  subsequent  years  had  made  several  similar 
efforts;  but  this  may  be  regarded  as  truly  the  first  introduction 
of  the  Raikes  system,  as  will  be  shown  on  some  future  occa- 
sion when  time  is  had  for  proper  research. 

Mrs.  Bethune's  greatest  delight  was  in  the  education  of  the 
young.  She  loved  education  as  a  science  as  well  as  a  charity. 
Hence  she  was  always  personally  attentive  to  that  department 
of  the  orphan  asylum,  and  taught  her  Sabbath  class  until  she  had 
long  passed  her  80th  year.  It  is  not  surprising  therefore  that 
the  infant  school  system,  as  organized  by  Wilderspin  on  the 
basis  of  Pestalozzi's  plan  of  development,  should  have  deeply 
interested  her.  On  receiving  the  necessary  books  from  England 
and  Switzerland,  she  succeeded  in  establishing  a  society  for 
advancing  that  method  of  instruction,  aided  by  the  late  philan- 
thropist, John  Griscom,  and  also  by  Mr.  Seton  of  this  city,  the 
lover  of  youth.  Several  schools  were  put  into  successful  opera- 
tion, which  Mrs.  Bethune  actively  superintended,  and  one  of 
which  she  taught  herself  almost  entirely,  in  the  tough  neigh- 
borhood of  the  Five  Points — this  more  than  30  years  ago.  The 
Infant  School  plan  was  soon  adopted  as  supplementary  to  the 
larger  classes  in  Sunday-schools,  and  in  the  Primaries  of  our 
Public  Schools,  so  that  the  good,  thus  begun,  has  been  and  will 
be  perpetuated  on  a  more  extended  scale.  Several  books  of 
Infant  School  instruction,  written  and  edited  by  Mrs.  Bethune, 
are  still  highly  prized. 

From  manuscript  historical  sketch  in  the  possession  of  the  New  York 
Historical  Society,  a  photographic  copy  of  which  is  in  the  possession  of  the 
-1  in  rican  Sunday-School  Union. 


APPENDIX  447 

List  of  Sunday-Schools  and  Societies  Connected  with  the  Sunday  and 

Adult  School  Union  Which,  Therefore,  Assented  to  its  Change 

of  Name  to  the  American  Sunday-School  Union  in  1824. 

Number    Officers  Number 

Name  of  School.                                               of  aud  of 

Schools.  Teachers.   Scholars. 

Male,  St.  Paul's  Church,  Philadelphia 2  15  160 

Female,  St.  Paul's  Church,  Philadelphia 3  45  260 

Male,  Christ  Church  and  St.  Peter's,  Philadelphia.   2  9  130 

Male,  Trinity  Church,  Southwark,  Philadelphia .  .   1  10  90 

Female,  Trinity  Church,  Southwark,  Philadelphia .    1  24  145 

Male,  St.  John's  Church,  N.  L.,  Philadelphia 1  6  50 

Female,  St.  John's  Church,  N.  L.,  Philadelphia.  .  .   1  13  133 

Berean  Society,  Philadelphia 2  6  130 

First  Presbyterian  Church,  Philadelphia 1  14  50 

Adelphian  Union,  Philadelphia 7  81  548 

Fourth  Presbyterian  Church,  Philadelphia 2  12  150 

Fifth  Presbyterian  Church,  Philadelphia 2  15  220 

Sixth  Presbyterian  Church,  Philadelphia.    2  23  90 

Seventh  Presbyterian  Church,  Philadelphia 2  14  110 

First  Baptist  Church,  Philadelphia 1  20  140 

Second  Baptist  Church,  Philadelphia 1  10  80 

New-Market  Street,  Baptist,  Philadelphia 1  14  170 

Methodist,  Kensington,  Philadelphia 1  35  261 

Methodist  Episcopal  Union,  Philadelphia 1  22  193 

Methodist,  Ebenezer,  Southwark,  Philadelphia ...   1  24  268 

German  Reformed  Church,  Philadelphia 2  18  160 

Female,  First  Reformed  Dutch  Church,  Phila 1  18  60 

Union  Sabbath  School  Asso.  of  N.L.,  Philadelphia.   5  44  500 

Combined  Sabbath  School  Assoc,  of  N.  L.,  Phila. .   5  26  360 

Auxiliary  Evangelical  Society,  Philadelphia 4  26  300 

Canaan  Society,  Philadelphia 1  9  70 

Hope,  Philadelphia 1  11  110 

Samaritan,  Southwark,  Philadelphia 3  35  388 

Mariners',  Philadelphia 1  13  160 

United  Brethren,  Philadelphia 1  10  70 

Kensington,  Philadelphia 1  20  100 

Union  Adult  Society,  Philadelphia 3  20  253 

Sansom  Street  Baptist,  Philadelphia. 2  26  193 

Bethlehem,  Spring  Garden,  Philadelphia 1  13  100 

First  Reformed  Church,  Philadelphia 1  10  52 

Oxford,  Philadelphia  County 1  12  60 

Blockley,  Philadelphia  County 1  12  70 

Frankford  Union,  Philadelphia  County 3  15  185 

Male,  St.  Luke's,  Germantown,  Philadelphia  Co..   1  6  100 

Hamiltonviile,  Philadelphia  County 1  12  146 

Bustleton,  Philadelphia  County 1  11  80 

Holmesburg,  Philadelphia  County 1  14  115 

Penn  Township,  Philadelphia  County 1  5  60 

Union,  of  Kingsessing,  Philadelphia  County 1  21  60 

Lower  Dublin,  Philadelphia  County 1  11  65 

Ridge  Road,  Philadelphia  County 1  10  71 

Falls  of  Schuylkill,  Philadelphia  County 1  3  30 

Radnor,  Delaware  County 1  8  67 

Union  S.  S.  Association,  Delaware  County 11  63  554 


448  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

Number   Officers  Number 

Name  of  School.  of  and  of 

Schools.  Teachers.   Scholars. 

Union,  of  Darby,  Delaware  County 1  18  46 

Presbyterian,  of  Norristown,  Montgomery  County  .1  8  60 

Norriton,  Montgomery  County 2  14  100 

Huntington,  Montgomery  County 1  5  40 

Montgomery,  Montgomery  County 1  6  61 

Evansburg,  Montgomery  County 1  7  70 

United  Upper  Merion,  Montgomery  County 1  10  80 

Pottstown,  Montgomery  County 1  25  90 

Bristol,  Bucks  County 1  15  136 

Neshaminy,  Bucks  County 3  29  150 

Hilltown  Lord's-Day,  Bucks  County 2  30  165 

Buck,  Bucks  County 1  8  54 

Newport,  Bucks  County 1  11  86 

Doylestown,  Bucks  County 3  20  200 

Newtown,  Bucks  County 1  26  98 

Bensalem,  Bucks  County 1  17  77 

Warwick,  Chester  County 1  12  50 

Westnantmeal,  Chester  County 1  18  69 

French  Creek,  Chester  County 1  24  108 

Upper  Octarora,  Chester  County 9  93  446 

Female,  of  New  London,  Chester  County 3  17  134 

Presbyterian  S.  S.  S.,  Lancaster  County 1  20  215 

Female,  St.  James'  Church,  Lancaster  County. ...  1  15  100 

Male,  St.  James'  Church,  Lancaster  County 1  15  100 

Lancaster,  Lancaster  County 1  6  30 

Evangelical  Lutheran,  Lancaster  County 1  68  480 

Marietta,  Lancaster  County 3  25  213 

Methodist,  of  Beams  Meeting  House,  Lancaster  Co.  1  10  93 

New  Holland,  Lancaster  County 1  12  90 

Methodist,  Lancaster  County 1  12  55 

Columbia,  Lancaster  County 2  16  139 

Cedar  Grove,  Lancaster  County 2  10  80 

Strasburg  Female,  Lancaster  County 1  14  107 

Christ  Church,  of  Leacock,  Lancaster  County 1  26  74 

Pequea,  Lancaster  County 1  22  110 

Compass,  Lancaster  County 1  21  80 

Soudersburg,  Lancaster  County 1  19  75 

Reading,  Berks  County 1  23  380 

Womalsdorf,  Berks  County 2  20  149 

Harrisburg,  Dauphin  County 2  30  260 

Evangelical,  of  Harrisburg,  Dauphin  County 1  25  250 

Methodist,  of  Halifax,  Dauphin  County 1  14  114 

Allen  Township,  Dauphin  County 1  19  75 

Easton,  Northampton  County 3  25  220 

Greenwich,  Northampton  County 1  5  50 

Upper  and  Lower  Mount  Bethel,  Northampton  Co.  8  49  491 

Evangelical,  of  Carlisle,  Cumberland  County 1  8  70 

Newburg,  Cumberland  County 1  6  43 

Silver  Spring,  Cumberland  County 3  21  267 

York,  York  County 2  23  205 

Female,  of  Northumberland,  Northumberland  Co.  2  16  77 

Northumberland,  Northumberland  County 1  5  28 


APPENDIX  449 

Number   Officers  Number 

Name  of  School.                                             of  and  of 

Schools.  Teachers.   Scholars. 

Female,  of  Sunbury,  Northumberland  County 1  15  154 

Female,  of  Shippensburg,  Northumberland  County .   1  12  50 

Bridgewater,  Susquehanna  County 3  17  100 

Lehigh,  Lehigh  County 1  4  43 

Cattawissa,  Columbia  County : 1  10  52 

White  Spring,  Columbia  County 1  8  96 

Berwick,  Columbia  County 5  53  229 

Columbia,  Columbia  County 15  187  796 

Cattawissa  Ridge,  Columbia  County 1  8  46 

Douglass  Mills,  Perry  County 1  12  60 

Germantown,  Perry  County 1  13  60 

Upper  Buffaloe,  Perry  County 1  9  50 

Andersonville,  Perry  County 1  11  45 

Petersburg,  Perry  County 3  14  130 

Wayne,  Wayne  County 1  7  57 

Salem  Congregation,  Westmoreland  County 5  28  250 

Lewistown,  Mifflin  County 1  12  99, 

Lewisburg,  Union  County 1  20  120 

Alexandria,  Huntingdon  County 1  11  86 

Gettysburg,  Adams  County 3  32  258 

Bellefonte,  Center  County 1  11  162 

Belief onte,  Methodist,  Center  County 1  8  80 

Pine  Grove  Mills,  Center  County 1  10  50 

Mount  Pleasant,  Center  County 1  10  50 

Harmony,  Center  County ' 1  15  141 

Waynesburg,  Franklin  County 1  29  133 

Chambersburg,  Franklin  County 1  22  200 

Elkland,  Lycoming  County 2  26  72 

Female,  of  Williamsport,  Lycoming  County 1  12  40 

White  Deer,  Lycoming  County 2  50  147 

Wilkesbarre,  Luzerne  County 1  26  181 

Conyngham,  Luzerne  County 1  4  50 

Washington,  Washington  County 1  21  182 

Caernarvon,  of  Churchtown,  Washington  County. .   1  15  81 

Jefferson  College,  Washington  County 2  13  85 

Sunday-School  Union,  Crawford  County 47  255  1,362 

West  Union,  Indiana  County 5  63  255 

Pittsburgh  Union,  Allegheny  County 21  320  2,000 

Methodist  Association  of  Pittsburgh,  Allegheny  Co.  6  50  450 

Big  Spring,  Pennsylvania 1  6  40 

Brownsville,  Pennsylvania 1  21  98 

Middle  Spring,  Pennsylvania 2  14  66 

Female  Charity,  Somerville,  New  Jersey 2  10  100 

Union,  New  Mills,  Burlington  County,  New  Jersey.   1  11  60 

Great  Cross  Roads,  New  Jersey 1  11  86 

Bordentown,  New  Jersey 1  8  60 

First  Camden,  New  Jersey 1  15  97 

Methodist,  Bordentown,  New  Jersey 1  11  61 

Trenton  and  Lamberton,  New  Jersey 2  19  153 

Birmingham  Female,  New  Jersey 1  10  49 

Flemington  and  Am  well,  New  Jersey 9  79  380 

Union,  Salem  County,  New  Jersey 9  69  537 


450  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

Number   Officers  Number 

Name  of  School.                                             of  and  of 

Schools.  Teachers.   Scholars. 

Orange,  Essex  County,  New  Jersey 4  39  296 

Cape  May,  New  Jersey 1  5  60 

New  Brunswick,  New  Jersey 3  48  351 

Cumberland  Union,  New  Jersey 5  45  300 

Osford  and  Harmony,  New  Jersey 5  30  361 

Allentown,  Monmouth  County,  New  Jersey 3  25  244 

Harbourton,  New  Jersey 2  6  90 

Pohatcong  Valley,  New  Jersey 5  39  361 

Washington  Female,  Morris  County,  New  Jersey.  11  131  816 

Woodbury,  New  Jersey 1  9  82 

Black  Horse,  Burlington  County,  New  Jersey ....   1  9  96 

Hardwick,  Sussex  County,  New  Jersey 7  54  539 

Basking  Ridge,  Somerset  County,  New  Jersey. .  .  .10  58  390 

Springfield,  New  Jersey 6  32  255 

Newhope  and  Lambertsville,  New  Jersey 4  35  248 

Hackettstown,  Sussex  County,  New  Jersey 5  31  162 

Princeton,  New  Jersey 18  136  1,000 

Lawrence,  New  Jersey 4  9  136 

Benevolent,  Pennington,  New  Jersey 2  20  87 

Trenton,  New  Jersey 3  29  250 

Female,  Bridgewater,  New  Jersey 1  15  93 

Amwell,  New  Jersey 2  22  150 

Buddtown,  New  Jersey 1  9  56 

Lebanon  and  White  House,  New  Jersey 11  57  431 

Crosswicks,  New  Jersey 1  90  60 

Laurel,  Delaware 1  14  82 

Wilmington,  Delaware 10  86  567 

Wilmington,  Male,  Delaware 1  7  100 

Wilmington,  of  First  Presbyterian  Church,  Dela.  .1  12  65 

Indian  River,  Delaware. 1  5  41 

Brandywine  Manufacturers',  Delaware 1  6  100 

Union,  of  Lewis,  Delaware 2  5  100 

Newark,  Delaware 6  28  275 

Female  Episcopal,  of  Wilmington,  Delaware 1  10  120 

Mathenian  Assoc,  of  Fredericktown,  Maryland ...   1  50  263 

Female,  of  Easton,  Maryland 1  10  25 

Uniontown,  Maryland 4  33  310 

Union,  of  West  Nottingham,  Maryland 4  67  224 

Christ  Church  Parish,  Maryland 2  38  141 

Female,  of  the  Rock  Church,  Maryland 1  4  39 

Frederick  County,  Maryland 1  8  70 

Taneytown,  Maryland 1  12  108 

Salisbury,  Maryland 1  11  58 

German  Reformed  Church,  Maryland 1  22  130 

Union,  of  Cumberland,  Maryland 2  9  99 

Bear  Branch  and  Pipe  Creek  Union,  Maryland ...   1  6  73 

African  Female,  Georgetown,  D.  C 1  13  150 

Washington  Union,  District  of  Columbia 14  174  1,279 

Georgetown  Union,  District  of  Columbia 5  58  393 

Alexandria  Union,  District  of  Columbia 5  40  300 

Fredericksburg  Evangelical,  Virginia 4  50  265 

Lynchburg  Union,  Virginia 2  23  110 


APPENDIX 


451 


Name  of  School. 


Number    Officers     Number 

of  and  of 

Schools.  Teachers.   Scholars. 


Winchester  Union,  Virginia 1 

Presbyterian,  of  Fredericksburg,  Virginia 5 

London  County  Union,  Virginia 3 

Wheeling  Union,  Virginia 1 

Timber  Ridge,  Virginia 1 

Episcopal,  of  Winchester,  Virginia 2 

Culpepper,  Virginia 1 

Union,  of  Shepherdstown,  Virginia 1 

Fork  Church,  Hanover  County,  Virginia 1 

Lewisburg,  Greenbriar  County,  Virginia 1 

Murfreesborough,  North  Carolina 2 

Hillsborough,  Orange  County,  North  Carolina. .  .  .12 

Bethesda,  Caswell  County,  North  Carolina 1 

Guilford,  North  Carolina 5 

St.  Mary's  Chapel,  Hillsborough,  North  Carolina .    1 

Methodist,  of  Wilmington,  North  Carolina 1 

Greensborough,  North  Carolina 2 

Pendleton,  North  Carolina 7 

Columbia,  North  Carolina 1 

Charleston  Union,  South  Carolina 10 

Female  Union,  of  the  City  of  New  York,  New  York .  43 

Painted  Post,  Steuben  County,  New  York 3 

Hudson,  Columbia  County,  New  York 1 

Hudson  Baptist,  New  York 5 

Guilford,  Chenango  County,  New  York 10 

New  Haven,  Connecticut 2 

Union,  of  Providence,  Rhode  Island 2 

Society  for  Moral  and  Religious  Instruction  of  the 

Poor,  Salem,  Massachusetts 4 

Monroe,  Chickasaw  Nation,  Mississippi 1 

Natchez,  Mississippi 1 

Chariton,  Missouri 1 

Madison,  Indiana 1 

M 'Chord's  Church,  Lexington,  Kentucky 1 

Maysville,  Kentucky 2 

Flemington,  Kentucky 1 

Louisville,  Kentucky 1 

Union,  Kentucky 5 

Kingsport,  Tennessee 1 

Union  of  Cincinnati,  Ohio 8 

Steubenville,  Ohio 1 

Salem,  Harrisburg,  Pennsylvania 

Lebanon,  Pennsylvania 

Rye  Township,  Perry  County,  Pennsylvania 

Richmond  Union,  Virginia 

Petersburg  Union,  Virginia 

Dividing  Creek,  New  Jersey 

Lebanon,  New  Jersey 

Cold  Spring,  Sussex  County,  Delaware 

Nashville,  Tennessee 

Baptist,  Providence,  Rhode  Island .22         175 

723     7,300      49,619 


32 

180 

35 

300 

24 

152 

14 

129 

1 

55 

9 

130 

8 

31 

18 

126 

22 

80 

9 

95 

8 

85 

60 

500 

3 

60 

72 

439 

7 

100 

10 

55 

51 

307 

34 

242 

12 

50 

138 

895 

487 

2,377 

18 

150 

35 

175 

24 

336 

54 

208 

50 

270 

32 

206 

110 

550 

6 

53 

18 

130 

9 

31 

15 

87 

18 

100 

9 

260 

4 

52 

20 

200 

15 

150 

16 

123 

162 

1,185 

18 

177 

1,200 


452  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

1817-1917,  Date  of  Beginning  of  the  American  Sunday-School  Union. — 
Representatives  from  ten  or  more  local  Sunday-school  unions  or  societies 
met  in  Mr.  Gartley's  school-room,  northwest  corner  of  Fourth  and  Vine 
Streets,  Philadelphia,  May  13,  1817,  to  consider  the  formation  of  a  gen- 
eral Sunday-school  union. 

They  unanimously  agreed  that  it  was  expedient  to  form  such  a  union, 
and  framed  and  printed  a  constitution.  These  delegates  held  three  meet- 
ings in  May,  and  promptly  began  work,  while  deciding  upon  the  objects, 
basis,  and  title  of  the  society.  The  records  indicate  that  this  movement 
was  begun  by  laymen;  clerygmen  not  attending  the  meetings. 

The  title  first  proposed  was  "The  Sunday  and  Adult  School  Association 
of  Philadelphia,"  but  before  the  plans  were  completed  it  was  changed  to 
"The  Sunday  and  Adult  School  Union." 

While  it  was  popularly  called  "The  Philadelphia  Sunday  and  Adult 
•School  Union,"  to  indicate  its  headquarters,  Philadelphia  is  no  part  of 
the  title  as  given  in  the  printed  constitution  of  1818,  nor  in  the  Act 
of  Incorporation  of  1819,  nor  is  any  liinit  indicated  to  its  field  of  opera- 
tions. 

The  direction  of  its  affairs  was  committed  to  a  board  of  twelve  man- 
agers, chosen  annually  by  ballot,  together  with  two  representatives  from 
each  connected  school  union.  Clergymen,  whose  "school  societies  "were 
attached  to  the  Union,  were  admitted  as  honorary  members,  with  a  right 
to  vote. 

The  Sunday  and  Adult  School  Union,  was  incorporated  by  decree  of 
the  Supreme  Court  of  Pennsylvania  in  1819. 

The  scope  of  operations  which  the  founders  had  in  view  is  confirmed 
by  records  which  show  that  the  Union  formed  and  recognized  auxiliary 
unions  from  ten  states  and  the  District  of  Columbia  in  the  first  three 
years  of  its  existence,  and  by  the  seventh  year  it  had  unions  and  schools 
in  seventeen  states  and  the  District  of  Columbia. 

In  view  of  this  growth,  suggestions  that  the  Society  become  national 
in  name,  as  well  as  in  fact,  came  from  various  sections  of  the  country, 
similar  to  this  from  New  Jersey: 

Permit  us  to  express  the  wish  that  the  association  (Union) 
of  which  it  is  our  privilege  to  form  a  part,  may  continue  to 
flourish  and  extend  its  genial  influence  till  that  happy  day  shall 
arrive  when  one  mighty  union  shall  be  formed,  embracing  in  its 
limits  the  people  of  every  language  and  of  every  land. 

A  proposition  from  the  New  York  Sunday-School  Union  Society  in 
1820  pointed  to  the  magnitude  of  the  work  already  accomplished  by  the 
Sunday  and  Adult  School  Union,  and  proposed  a  union  general  in  name, 
to  which  other  unions  would  become  auxiliary.  This  implies  that  they 
did  not  contemplate  becoming  constituent  bodies  in  a  neio  organization, 


APPENDIX  453 

but  that  the  Union  located  at  Philadelphia  should  become  national  in 
name,  and  others  become  auxiliaries. 

Influenced  by  these  suggestions,  the  managers  of  the  Sunday  and 
Adult  School  Union,  November  13,  1823,  29  members  present,  framed  a 
constitution  proposing  to  change  its  name  to  the  American  Sunday- 
School  Union.  Copies  of  this  constitution  were  furnished  to  Sunday- 
school  unions  in  different  sections  of  the  United  States  for  consideration 
and  approval.  The  basis  and  objects  stated  in  this  constitution  of  the 
American  Sunday-School  Union  were  essentially  the  same  as  those  in 
the  Sunday  and  Adult  School  Union: 

To  concentrate  the  efforts  of  Sabbath-school  societies  in  the 
different  sections  of  our  country;  to  strengthen  the  hands  of 
the  friends  of  pious  instruction  on  the  Lord's  Day;  to  disseminate 
useful  information;  circulate  moral  and  religious  publications 
in  every  part  of  the  land;  and  endeavor  to  plant  a  Sunday- 
school  wherever  there  is  a  population. 

This  constitution,  with  a  few  suggested  changes,  was  approved  by  the 
Society  December  11,  1823,  and  referred  to  the  Board  of  Managers  to 
carry  its  provisions  into  effect.  The  Board  of  Officers  and  Managers,  as 
instructed  by  the  Society,  presented  the  Constitution  of  the  Society  under 
its  new  name,  the  American  Sunday-School  Union,  at  the  anniversary 
meeting,  May  25,  1824.  This  anniversary  was  attended  by  distinguished 
representatives  from  various  parts  of  the  United  States.  The  change  of 
name  to  the  American  Sunday-School  Union  and  the  Constitution  were 
ratified;  the  funds,  books,  and  other  property  were  transferred  to  the 
American  Sunday-School  Union;  and  the  President,  Treasurer,  and  other 
officers  of  the  Sunday  and  Adult  School  Union  were  elected  to  similar 
offices  in  the  Society  under  its  new  name. 

Having  changed  its  name,  the  law  required  a  new  Act  of  Incorporation. 
Repeated  applications  for  such  incorporation  were  presented  to  the 
Legislature  of  Pennsylvania  between  1825  and  1829,  and  an  Act  of 
Incorporation  was  finally  granted  to  the  Society  in  1845. 

The  phrase,  "American  Sunday-School  Union  organized  in  1824," 
found  in  circulars  and  various  publications  of  the  Union,  meant  only  the 
American  Sunday-School  Union  organized  under  its  present  name  in  1824. 

That  the  American  Sunday-School  Union  was  not  a  new  society  in 
1824  (but  a  change  of  name)  is  recognized  and  confirmed  by  subsequent 
records,  as  in  circulars  and  in  petitions  to  the  legislature.  In  1826  it  is 
said,  referring  to  the  Sunday  and  Adult  School  Union:  "The  Society  being 
thus  in  fact  a  great  national  institution,  ...  it  became  proper  to  call  it 
so,  and  by  an  alteration  of  the  constitution  it  was  styled  the  American 
Sunday-School  Union."    A  similar  statement  was  made  again  in  1828. 

In  another  historical  statement  referring  to  the  change  from  the  Sunday 


454  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

and  Adult  School  Union  to  the  American  Sunday-School  Union  is  this 
phrase:  "It  is  evident  that  this  was  simply  a  change  of  name  and  an 
enlarging  of  the  powers  of  the  former  society."  ! 

In  an  official  address  made  in  1907  and  placed  in  the  corner-stone  of  the 
Society's  present  building  is  this  statement: 

The  American  Sunday-School  Union  has  a  memorable  record 
of  Christian  service  for  ninety  years,  1817-182^-1907.  Begin- 
ning as  the  Sunday  and  Adult  School  Union  in  1817,  it  speedily 
became  national  in  breadth  and  scope.  .  .  .  The  friends  .  .  . 
recognized  its  national  character  by  reorganizing  and  renaming 
it  the  American  Sunday-School  Union. 

Thus  the  Society  under  its  two  names — The  Sunday  and  Adult  School 
Union  and  the  American  Sunday-School  Union — has  had  a  continuous 
existence  since  May,  1817. 

The  origin  of  the  Society  may  hereafter  be  briefly  stated : 

American  Sunday-School  Union,  instituted  May  13,  1817, 
under  the  title  The  Sunday  and  Adult  School  Union;  the  name 
changed  to  the  American  Sunday-School  Union  May  25/1824. 

The  foregoing  statement  of  the  origin  of  the  American  Sunday-School 
Union  was  prepared  from  its  records  by  a  special  committee  (Edwin  W. 
Rice,  Honorary  Editor,  and  William  C.  Stoever,  Manager  and  Attorney 
of  the  Society),  and  was  approved  by  the  Board  of  Officers  and  Man- 
agers April,  1916,  and  ratified  at  the  annual  meeting  of  the  Society  May, 
1916,  and  ordered  to  be  published  in  view  of  the  one  hundredth  anniver- 
sary of  the  Union,  May,  1917. 

The  Basis. — In  1844  the  managers  said: 

We  do  not  seal  up  the  sacred  volume  and  require  our  fellow- 
men  to  believe  what  we  or  other  fallible  men  have  said,  or  may 
say,  of  its  contents.  .  .  .  We  seek  to  put  the  Bible  into  the 
hands  of  all  the  children  and  youth  in  the  country.  .  .  .  We  do 
not  put  any  human  authority  above  it  nor  by  the  side  of  it,  but 
immeasurably  below  it.  .  .  .  The  Bible  is  the  only  rule  of  faith 
and  duty,  and  every  man  is  required,  on  divine  authority  and 
at  the  peril  of  his  soul,  to  search  the  Scriptures,  and  see  what 
they  testify  of  Christ  and  his  doctrines.  Hence  to  open  the 
Bible  to  all  the  rising  generation  of  our  country  is  the  grand  and 
glorious  object  of  the  American  Sunday-School  Union.  We 
unite  for  this  purpose,  and  blessed  be  God  that  we  can  unite;  that 
as  a  body  of  Christians,  without  distinction  of  sect,  or  creed, 
or  custom,  we  can  and  do  kneel  together  before  the  throne  of 
our  common  Lord  and  Saviour,  and  implore,  with  one  heart 
and  voice,  upon  ourselves  and  upon  the  work  of  our  hands,  His 
gracious  favour.  We  can  and  do  inculcate  the  great  truths  of 
the  Christian  faith  on  which  we  rely  for  our  own  salvation, 

1  Report  of  Anniversary,  1899,  p.  5. 


APPENDIX  455 

upon  the  minds  and  hearts  of  the  ignorant,  the  neglected,  the 
unthinking  and  vicious  myriads  that  throng  our  cities  and  rise 
up,  like  a  dense  cloud,  all  over  the  newly  formed  settlements  of 
the  land.  We  can  and  do  scatter  far  and  wide — through  the 
agency  of  thousands  upon  thousands  of  our  teachers,  and  our 
millions  of  Bibles,  Testaments,  and  other  religious  books,  cir- 
culating from  week  to  week  among  a  million  of  children  and 
youth,  and  through  the  families  and  neighbourhoods  in  which 
they  dwell — the  free  and  boundless  blessings  of  the  Gospel.1 

In  1834  they  said: 

The  principle  of  our  union  has  been  stated  so  often,  and  with 
so  much  clearness,  that  it  seems  as  if  there  could  be  no  room  for 
misapprehension.  We  are  associated  as  individuals,  for  the 
purpose  of  aiding  in  the  establishment  of  Sunday-schools,  and 
publishing  libraries  for  their  use.  Some  of  us  are  Baptists; 
some  are  Methodists;  some  are  Presbyterians;  some  are  Epis- 
copalians; some  are  Lutherans,  and  some  are  of  other  denomi- 
nations. As  an  association,  however,  we  have  no  connection 
whatever  with  any  denomination,  nor  has  any  denomination 
any  connection  whatever  with  us.2 

In  1838  the  managers  answered  the  allegation  that  the  Society  taught 
weak,  diluted  gospel: 

We  disavow,  also,  the  allegation  that  the  principles  of  our 
Union  are  chargeable  wiih  encouraging  neglect  of  the  particular 
formularies  of  the  various  denominations,  or  with  discouraging 
full  investigation  of  any  doctrine  that  is  a  subject  of  difference 
with  Christians.  ...  It  is  no  part  of  our  principles  to  dis- 
countenance the  action  of  denominational  schools  or  societies, 
or  to  attempt  to  widen  their  basis.  .  .  .  Nor  has  it  ever  been 
our  desire  to  exclude  the  instruction  peculiar  to  any  one  form 
of  evangelical  belief,  in  order  to  introduce  a  diluted  and  weak- 
ened course  of  instruction.  ...  If  the  catechisms  of  the 
churches  are  less  studied  than  they  once  were,  it  is  not  because 
we  have  pretended  to  furnish  a  substitute  for  them.  ...  It 
must  be  owing  to  want  of  proper  arrangement  or  provision,  if 
the  children  of  that  church  are  not  instructed  in  their  own 
catechism  or  formularies,  according  to  its  wishes,  although  good 
faith  may  require  that  this  should  not  be  imposed  on  all.  .  .  . 
We  would,  therefore,  once  more  earnestly  call  upon  the  Chris- 
tian church  and  its  ministers  to  give  their  most  watchful  atten- 
tion to  the  Sunday-school  system,  both  as  it  affects  their  own 
distinctive  creeds,  and  as  it  regards  the  general  state  of  ignorance 
and  irreligion  in  our  country.  The  former  is  no  part  of  our  duty, 
and  the  latter  does  not  belong  to  us  exclusively.  Our  books  may 
be  used  in  every  school  to  inculcate  instruction  and  saving  truth, 
without  keeping  away  any  scholars  on  account  of  denominational 
peculiarities.  .  .  .  Will  the  principle  be  defended,  that  we  ought 
not  to  go  into  the  villages  and  neighbourhoods  where  there 
are  no  churches  or  schools,  and  form  'a  Sunday-school,  where 
the  Bible  shall  be  diligently  read,  and  the  attendants  shall  learn 

i  Report,  1844,  pp.  57-59.  *  Report,  1834,  pp.  20,  21. 


456  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

their  duties  to  God  and  man,  and  be  urged  to  repentance  and 
faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ — that  this  shall  not  be  done,  be- 
cause of  the  few  pious  and  intelligent  teachers  who  are  to  be 
found  in  the  settlement,  one  is  a  Baptist,  another  an  Episco- 
palian, a  third  a  Methodist,  a  fourth  a  Presbyterian,  or  Mora- 
vian, or  Lutheran?  Is  [this  a  fact  that  is  to  exclude  religious 
teaching  from  that  population  until  each  of  these  denominations 
successively  gains  strength  enough,  in  the  course  of  many  years, 
to  have  a  church  and  Sunday-school  of  its  own?1 

On  the  same  principle  we  would  ask  whether  the  help  of  our 
publications  should  be  wholly  declined  by  any  school  because 
they  abstain  from  points  controverted.  .  .  .  Cannot  Christian 
character  be  exhibited  in  biography;  or  Scriptural  history  and 
antiquities  be  illustrated;  or  the  duties  of  life  enforced  and  its 
dangers  warned  against,  without  incorporating  in  the  work  the 
peculiarities  of  some  one  creed?  The  very  statement  of  the 
question  shows  the  fallacy  of  the  objection  to  which  it  refers.2 

Utica  Union  Sunday-School. — The  Utica  Union  Sunday-School,  of 
which  Truman  Parmele  was  superintendent,  was  composed  of  three 
denominations  of  Christians — Baptists,  Methodists  and  Presbyterians. 

The  first  formation  of  the  school  in  Utica  was  in  1816.  The 
union  of  the  above  denominations  was  affected  in  1820.  The 
effect  of  the  union  has  been  to  promote  harmony  and  friendly 
feeling  between  the  different  societies  which  compose  it  and 
has  materially  increased  the  usefulness  of  the  school.  It  is 
divided  into  two  departments,  male  and  female,  each  under  the 
care  of  a  superintendent  and  assistant.  A  system  of  instruc- 
tion has,  during  the  past  year,  been  pursued  in  this  institution 
which  has  had  an  astonishing  effect  in  exciting  the  interest  of 
the  scholars,  awakening  the  activities  of  the  teachers,  and 
increasing  their  usefulness.  This  system  is,  briefly,  to  question 
the  scholars  closely  upon  the  lessons  given  them  by  their  teach- 
ers, first  in  their  respective  classes,  and  then  by  the  superintend- 
ents. To  this  system  we  are  indebted  for  that  valuable  work 
entitled  Questions  Designed  for  Sabbath-Schools.  For  more  than 
four  years  the  teachers  of  these  schools  have  been  accustomed  to 
observe  the  monthly  prayer  meeting.  .  .  .  These  meetings  were 
found  to  produce  a  happy  effect  upon  the  teachers,  who  were  the 
first  to  recommend  "The  Teachers'  Monthly  Concert."  .  .  . 
They  have  perceived  the  benefit  of  limited  lessons,  well  com- 
mitted, and  recommend  the  plan  in  the  strongest  terms. 

The  Rev.  S.  W.  Grace,  corresponding  secretary  of  the  Western  Sunday- 
School  Union,  noted  a  monthly  publication,  The  Western  Sunday-School 
Visitor,  which  "proves  a  powerful  auxiliary  to  the  good  cause."  He  also 
reported  a  second  edition  of  five  thousand  copies  of  Parmele's  Questions 
lately  published,  with  two  other  publications,  one  on  the  internal  gov- 
ernment of  Sunday-schools  and  the  other  on  a  system  of  instruction 


«  Report.  1838,  pp.  19-22. 
*  Report,  1839,  pp.  19-22. 


APPENDIX  <457 

designed  principally  for  public  examinations.    The  Union  then  reported 
about  200  schools,  about  1,500  teachers  and  8,000  scholars.1 

First  Yearly  Course  of  Scripture  Lessons  for  Sunday-Schools.    Revised 

in  1826 

First  Quarter 

Lesson  1.     Luke,  Chap.  i.     Verses  5-25.     The  appearance  of  the  angel 

Gabriel  to  Zacharias,  to  foretell  the  birth  of  John  the  Baptist. 
Lesson  2.     Luke,  Chap.  i.     Verses  26-38.     The  appearance  of  the  angel 

to  Mary,  to  foretell  the  birth  of  Christ. 
Lesson  3.     Luke,  Chap.  i.     Verses  57-80.     The  birth  of  John  the  Baptist. 
Lesson  4.     Luke,  Chap.  ii.     Verses  1-20.     The  birth  of  Christ,  and  the 

appearance  of  the  angels  to  the  Shepherds. 
Lesson  5.     Luke,  Chap.  ii.     Verses  21-38.     The  presentation  of  Christ 

in  the  temple,  and  blessing  of  Simeon  and  Anna. 
Lesson  6.     Matt.,  Chap.  ii.     Verses  1-23.     Jesus  sought  by  the  wise 

men — the  flight  into  Egypt,  and  the  massacre  of  the  children  of 

Bethlehem. 
Lesson  7.     Luke,  Chap.  ii.     Verses  40-52.     Christ  is  taken  to  Jerusalem 

at  twelve  years  of  age. 
Lesson  8.     Luke,  Chap.  iii.     Verses  1-22.     Christ  is  baptized  by  John 

the  Baptist,  who  is  preaching  in  the  country  about  Jordan. 
Lesson  9.     Matt.,  Chap.  iv.     Verses  1-11.     Christ's  temptation  in  the 

wilderness. 
Lesson  10.     John,  Chap.  i.     Verses  1-14.     The  divinity  of  Christ. 

Second  Quarter 

Lesson  11.     John,  Chap.  i.     Verses  15-34.     The  testimony  of  John  the 

Baptist,  concerning  Christ. 
Lesson    12.     John,    Chap.    i.     Verses   35-51.     Christ   obtains   his   first 

disciples,  Andrew,  Peter,  Philip  and  Nathanael. 
Lesson   13.     John,   Chap.   ii.     Verses   1-22.     Christ  performs  his  first 

miracles  at  Cana;  goes  to  Jerusalem,  and  cleanses  the  temple. 
Lesson  14.     Matt.,  Chap.  iv.     Verses  12-25.     Christ  preaches  in  Galilee, 

calls  several  disciples,  and  performs  miracles. 
Lesson  15.     Luke,  Chap.  vi.     Verses  6-19.     Christ  heals  a  man  with  a 

withered  hand;  he  chooses  his  twelve  Apostles. 
Lesson  16.     Luke,  Chap.  vii.     Verses  1-17.     Christ  heals  a  centurion's 

servant,  and  raises  a  widow's  son. 
Lesson  17.     Matt.,  Chap.  viii.     Verses  18-34.     Two  persons  propose  to 

follow  Christ;  his  answers;  he  calms  a  tempest;  casts  out  devils. 
Lesson  18.     Mark,  Chap.  v.     Verses  22-43.     A  woman  is  healed  of  an 

issue  of  blood  by  touching  Christ's  garments;  the  daughter  of  Jairus 

restored. 
Lesson  19.     Matt.,  Chap.  x.     Verses  1-16.     Jesus  instructs  his  twelve 

Apostles  and  sends  them  forth  to  preach. 
Lesson  20.     Matt.,  Chap.  xi.     Verses  1-15.     John  the  Baptist  sends  two 

disciples  to  Christ  to  inquire  if  he  is  the  Messiah;  Christ's  answer 

and  testimony  concerning  John. 

1  Report  Oneida  County  Sunday-School  Union,  in  Annual  Report  of  the  American  Sun- 
day-School Union,  1826,  Addenda,  p.  88. 


458  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

Third  Quarter 

Lesson  21.     Mark,  Chap.  vi.     Verses  14-29.     John  the  Baptist  beheaded. 
Lesson  22.     Mark,  Chap.  vi.     Verses  30-44.     The  Apostles  return  to 

Jesus,  and  go  with  him  to  a  desert  place,  where  he  feeds  five  thousand 

men  with  five  loaves  and  two  fishes. 
Lesson  23.     John,  Chap.  v.     Verses  1-18.     Christ  heals  a  lame  man  at 

the  pool  of  Bethesda. 
Lesson  24.     Matt.,  Chap.  xvi.     Verses  13-28.     Christ  asks  his  disciples 

whom  they  suppose  him  to  be,  and  foretells  his  death. 
Lesson  25.     Matt.,  Chap.  xvii.     Verses  1-13.     Christ's  transfiguration 

on  a  mountain. 
Lesson  26.     Luke,  Chap.  xvii.     Verses  11-30.     Christ  heals  ten  lepers, 

and  speaks  to  the  Phariseses  about  the  kingdom  of  God. 
Lesson  27.     John,  Chap.  xi.     Verses  1-27.     Christ  goes  to  Bethany  to 

raise  Lazarus. 
Lesson  28.     John,  Chap.  xi.     Verses  28-46.     Christ  raises  Lazarus  from 

the  dead. 
Lesson  29.     John,  Chap.  xii.     Verses  1-11.     Christ  is  anointed  by  Mary. 
Lesson  30.     Luke,  Chap.  xix.     Verses  28-48.     Christ  enters  Jerusalem, 

weeps  over  it,  and  foretells  its  destruction. 

Fourth  Quarter 

Lesson  31.     Matt.,  Chap.  xxvi.     Verses  14-35.     Christ  foretells  his  being 

betrayed,  and  institutes  the  Lord's  Supper. 
Lesson  32.     Matt.,  Chap.  xxvi.     Verses  36-56.     Christ  in  the  garden  of 

Gethsemane,  and  there  betrayed  by  Judas. 
Lesson  33.     Matt.,  Chap.  xxvi.     Verses  57-75.     Christ  is  tried  before 

Caiaphas,  and  denied  by  Peter. 
Lesson  34.     Matt.,  Chap,  xxvii.     Verses  1-23.     Judas  hangs  himself; 

Christ  tried  and  condemned  by  Pilate. 
Lesson  35.     Matt.,  Chap,  xxvii.     Verses  24-44.     Christ's  crucifixion. 
Lesson  36.     Matt.,  Chap,  xxvii.     Verses  45-66.     The  burial  of  Christ. 
Lesson  37.     John,  Chap.  xx.     Verses  1-18.     The  resurrection  of  Christ. 
Lesson  38.     Luke,  Chap.  xxiv.     Verses  13-35.     Christ  appears  to  two 

disciples,  going  to  Emmaus. 
Lesson   39.     John,    Chap.    xxi.     Verses    1-25.     Christ   appears   to    his 

disciples,  when  fishing. 
Lesson  40.     Luke,  Chap.  xxiv.     Verses  36-53.     Christ's  appearance  to 

his  Apostles  and  others,  and  his  ascension. 


The  foregoing  selections,  embracing  the  history  of  our  Saviour's  life 
and  miracles,  constitute  the  first  of  a  series  of  courses  intended  to  be 
published  yearly — each  course  to  consist  of  40  lessons,  with  a  book  of 
questions.  The  last  Sabbath  in  each  month  should  be  devoted  to  review- 
ing the  lessons  of  the  month,  and  such  other  purposes  as  may  suit  the 
circumstances  of  the  different  schools  where  this  plan  of  instruction  is 
adopted.  The  second  yearly  course  of  lessons  will  embrace  the  public 
and  private  instructions  of  our  Saviour,  and  will  complete  the  selections 
from  the  gospels. 


APPENDIX  459 

Scripture  Lessons  Selected  for  a  Second  Annual  Course  of  Instruction. 
Revised  in  1826 

Lessons  for  the  First  Quarter  of  the  Year 

Lesson  1.  John,  Chap.  iii.  Verses  1-21.  Christ's  conversation  with 
Nicodemus. 

Lesson  2.  Luke,  Chap.  iv.  Verses  16-32.  Jesus  preacheth  in  Nazareth 
from  Isaiah,  for  which  the  Jews  endeavor  to  cast  him  from  a  preci- 
pice. 

Lesson  3.  Matt.,  Chap.  v.  Verses  1-16.  Christ's  sermon  on  the 
mount — Christians  called  the  salt  of  the  earth,  and  the  light  of  the 
world. 

Lesson  4.  Matt.,  Chap.  v.  Verses  17-32.  Our  Lord  maintains  the 
law,  shows  how  an  offending  brother  should  be  treated,  and  explains 
the  seventh  commandment. 

Lesson  5.  Matt.,  Chap.  v.  Verses  33-48.  Swearing  forbidden — kind- 
ness and  benevolence  enjoined. 

Lesson  6.  Matt.,  Chap.  vi.  Verses  1-18.  Our  Lord  addresses  his 
hearers  concerning  charity,  prayer,  and  fasting. 

Lesson  7.  Matt.,  Chap.  vi.  Verses  19-34.  Christ  teacheth  us  where 
to  lay  up  our  treasure — shows  that  we  cannot  serve  God  and  the 
world,  and  instructs  us  to  trust  in  Divine  Providence. 

Lesson  8.  Matt.,  Chap.  vii.  Verses  1-14.  Christ  forbids  hypocrisy, 
encourages  his  hearers  to  pray,  and  to  enter  in  at  the  strait  gate. 

Lesson  9.  Matt.,  Chap.  vii.  Verses  15-29.  Our  Lord  cautions  his 
hearers  against  false  teachers,  and  against  making  a  false  profession 
of  religion. 

Lesson  10.     Matt.,  Chap.  xiii.     Verses  1-17.     Parable  of  the  sower. 

Lessons  for  the  Second  Quarter  of  the   Year 
Lesson  11.     Luke,  Chap.  xi.     Verses  14-26.     Christ  accused  of  casting 

out  devils  by  Beelzebub,  and  his  reply. 
Lesson  12.     Matt.,  Chap.  xiii.     Verses  44-58.     Parables  of  the  treasure, 

pearl  and  net.    The  Jews  offended  with  Christ  on  account  of  his  low 

parentage  and  manner  of  life. 
Lesson  13.     John,  Chap.  v.     Verses  17-30.     Christ  teaches  that  he  is 

divine  and  the  judge  of  all  men. 
Lesson  14.     John,  Chap.  v.     Verses  31-47.     Our  Lord  speaks  concerning 

the  witnesses  of  his  person  and  doctrine,  and  reproves  the  people  for 

their  unbelief . 
Lesson  15.     Matt.,  Chap.  xv.     Verses  1-20.     Christ  reproves  the  Phari- 
sees, and  shows  to  the  multitude  what  things  are  defiling. 
Lesson  16.     Matt.,  Chap.  xvi.     Verses  1-12.     Jesus  answers  those  who 

require  a  sign  from  heaven,  and  warns  his  hearers  to  beware  of  the 

Pharisees. 
Lesson  17.     Matt.,  Chap,  xviii.     Verses  1-14.     Jesus  teaches  humility, 

and  shows  his  care  for  his  people  by  the  parable  of  lost  sheep. 
Lesson  18.     Matt.,  Chap,  xviii.     Verses  21-35.     Peter's  question  how 

often   he   should   forgive   his   brother — Christ's   instruction   about 

brotherly  love. 
Lesson  19.     Luke,  Chap.  x.     Verses  25-37.     A  lawyer  inquires  what  he 

must  do  to  inherit  eternal  life.    Jesus  refers  to  the  law  of  God,  and 

shows  him  by  the  example  of  a  good  Samaritan,  who  is  his  neighbor. 
Lesson  20.     Luke,  Chap.  xi.     Verses  37-54.     Our  Lord  denounces  woes 

against  the  Pharisees  and  lawyers. 


460  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

Lessons  for  the  Third  Quarter  of  the  Year 

Lesson  21.     Matt.,  Chap.  xiii.     Verses  24-35.     Parable  of  the  tares  in 

the  field — the  grain  of  mustard  seed  and  leaven. 
Lesson  22.     Luke,  Chap.  xii.     Verses  1-21.     Our  Saviour  teaches  his 

hearers  to  have  confidence  in  God — and  warns  them  to  beware  of 

covetousness. 
Lesson  23.     Luke,   Chap.   xii.     Verses  35-48.     Our  Lord   teaches  his 

hearers  to  be  ready  for  his  coming. 
Lesson  24.     Luke,  Chap.  xiii.     Verses  23-35.     Our  Lord  answers  the 

question,  whether  there  be  few  that  be  saved,  and  laments  over 

Jerusalem. 
Lesson  25.     Luke,  Chap.  xiv.     Verses  16-33.     The  parable  of  the  great 

supper,  and  the  terms  of  being  Christ's  disciples. 
Lesson  26.     Luke,  Chap.  xv.     Verses  11-32.     Parable  of  the  prodigal  son. 
Lesson  27.     Luke,  Chap.  xvi.     Verses  1-13.     The  unjust  steward. 
Lesson  28.     Luke,  Chap.  xvi.     Verses  19-31.     Parable  of  the  rich  man 

and  Lazarus. 
Lesson  29.     Luke,  Chap.  xvii.     Verses  1-10.     Our  Lord  enjoins  kindness 

to  brethren,  and  the  duty  of  faith. 
Lesson  30.     Luke,  Chap   xviii.     Verses  1-14.     The  importunate  widow. 

The  Pharisee  and  Publican. 

Lessons  for  the  Last  Quarter  of  the  Year 

Lesson   31.     Matt.,   Chap.   xix.     Verses   13-26.     Christ   blesseth   little 

children.    The  rich  man's  question  what  he  should  do  to  be  saved. 
Lesson  32.     Matt.,  Chap.  xx.     Verses  1-16.     Parable  of  the  labourers 

in  the  vineyard. 
Lesson  33.     John,  Chap.  viii.     Verses  12-30.     Our  Lord  discourses  to 

the  Jews  concerning  himself. 
Lesson  34.     John,  Chap.  x.     Verses  1-18.     Christ  the  good  shepherd. 
Lesson  35.     Luke,  Chap.  xix.     Verses  11-27.     The  nobleman's  kingdom. 
Lesson  36.     Matt.,  Chap.  xxi.     Verses  28-46.     Parable  of  the  two  sons 

and  the  wicked  husbandman.    Our  Lord  is  called  the  stone  which 

the  builders  rejected. 
Lesson  37.     Matt.,  Chap.  xxii.     Verses  1-14.     Parable  of  the  wedding 

garment. 
Lesson  38.     Matt.,  Chap.  xxv.     Verses  1-13.     Parable  of  the  ten  virgins. 
Lesson  39.     Matt.,  Chap.  xxv.     Verses  14-30.     Parable  of  the  talents. 
Lesson  40.     Matt.,  Chap.  xxv.     Verses  31-46.     The  last  judgment. 

The  lessons  for  the  third  year  in  a  similar  way  covered  Old  Testament 
history  from  the  Creation  to  the  Exodus,  and  the  fourth  year's  lessons 
continued  the  Old  Testament  history  to  the  death  of  Joshua.  The  fifth 
year  took  up  the  history  of  the  Christian  Church  as  recorded  in  the  Acts 
of  the  Apostles,  and  the  sixth  year  resumed  the  study  of  Old  Testament 
history  from  the  death  of  Joshua  to  the  death  of  Samuel,  and  the  seventh 
year  the  same  history  from  the  death  of  Samuel  to  the  Captivity.  In  the 
eighth  year  the  lessons  were  from  the  Epistle  to  the  Galatians;  in  the 
ninth  year  they  were  on  the  history  of  the  Israelites  from  the  Captivity 
to  the  end  of  the  Old  Testament  (Daniel,  Ezra,  Esther,  and  Nehemiah). 


APPENDIX  461 

Two  other  courses  were  for  Bible  classes,  as  well  as  that  on  Galatians, 
to  wit:  one  on  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  and  the  other  on  the  Epistle 
to  the  Hebrews. 

Simultaneously  with  these  The  Child's  Scripture  Question  Book  was 
issued  for  the  younger  classes. 

Schools  for  Teachers. — The  New  York  Sunday-School  Union,  auxiliary 
to  The  American  Sunday-School  Union,  in  1827  reported: 

One  of  the  greatest  embarrassments  attending  the  enlargement 
of  Sunday-school  operations  is  a  deficiency  of  faithful  and  com- 
petent teachers;  it  is  frequently  the  case  that  those  who  manifest 
a  disposition  to  engage  in  this  work  are  deterred  on  account  of 
their  ignorance  of  its  duties.  To  obviate  this  last  difficulty  and 
to  afford  an  opportunity  to  all  teachers  to  become  better  qualified 
for  their  employment,  the  plan  has  been  suggested  of  opening 
a  school  for  teachers,  on  some  week  day  or  Sabbath  evening,  for 
the  purpose  of  instructing  in  the  practical  duties  of  a  Sunday- 
school  teacher.  A  thorough  acquaintance  with  the  best  plan  of 
teaching  a  class,  and  a  uniform  system  of  instruction,  so  far  as  is 
practicable,  appears  to  be  very  desirable.  Your  committee  there- 
fore highly  recommend  the  establishment  of  a  school  for  teachers, 
and  the  more  so,  because  they  have  been  informed  that  some  of 
the  oldest  and  most  experienced  among  us  are  now  ready  to 
engage  in  it.1 

Debate  on  Granting  a  Charter  to  the  American'Sunday-School  Union. — 
Senator  Duncan,  from  Philadelphia,  took  part  in  a  debate  on  the  granting 
of  the  charter  to  the  American  Sunday-School  Union,  and  was  opposed 
by  Senator  Jesse  R.  Burden  in  a  speech  covering  eight  closely  printed 
octavo  pages.  Senator  Powell  made  a  similar  attack  upon  the  petition. 
Both  of  these  speeches  were  printed  in  The  Christian  Advocate  and  Journal 
of  1828,  with  apparent  approval  of  their  general  argument.  A  strong 
statement  of  the  case  by  five  managers  of  The  American  Sunday-School 
Union,  who  were  prominent  members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
pointed  out  the  misapprehensions  and  misrepresentations  of  the  senators, 
upon  which  the  Journal  had  based  its  remarks.  The  managers  say  they 
did  it  from  "a  sense  of  justice  to  our  brethren  and  ourselves."  The 
character  of  this  opposition  is  further  indicated  by  articles  in  the  columns 
of  The  Episcopal  Watchman  for  1827-28,  The  Church  Register  for  the 
same  year,  The  Christian  Baptist,  The  Christian  Advocate  and  other 
journals  cited  by  Parson  Brownlow  in  his  address  against  Union  Sunday- 
schools  in  1831,  and  by  a  defence  of  the  American  Sunday-School  Union 
made  by  Hon.  Williard  Hall,  Justice  of  the  United  States  Court,  Dela- 
ware, 1828.  As  to  the  scope  of  the  Union,  the  New  York  Sunday- 
School  Society  suggested  in  1820  that  it  was  national.  There  is  no 
intimation   in    its    records    anywhere    that    the    organization    of    the 

1  Annual  Report,  1827,  p.  7. 


462  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

American  Sunday-School  Union  was  proposed  by  any  outside  of 
the  committee  of  the  New  York  Union  composed  of  different  evan- 
gelical Christians  who  held  their  business  and  annual  meetings  at  that 
time  in  the  John  Street  Methodist  Church,  New  York.  For  further 
facts  relating  to  the  opposition  and  controversies,  see  Vindication  of 
Sunday-Schools,  by  Archibald  Alexander,  1832,  revised  edition  1845; 
Union  Principle  Undenominational  and  Not  Antidenominational,  by 
Henry  A.  Boardman,  D.D.,  1855;  Vindication  of  the  Principle  of  Chris- 
tian Union,  Stephen  H.  Tyng,  D.D.;  The  Union  Principle,  by  Stephen 
H.  Tyng,  D.D.,  New  York,  1855;  Design  and  Importance  of  The  American 
Sunday-School  Union,  by  Frederick  A.  Packard,  LL.D.,  Philadelphia, 
1838;  Review,  etc.,  Sunday-School  Quarterly  Magazine,  October,  1831. 

On  the  opposition  to  The  American  Sunday-School  Union  the  Rev. 
Oscar  S.  Michael,  in  The  Sunday-School  in  the  Development  of  the  Ameri- 
can Church,  asserts: 

The  Methodists,  as  a  class,  bitterly  opposed  its  progress  on 
the  ground  that  it  was  a  propagating  agency  of  Hopkinsianism 
or  Calvanistic  Presbyterianism  to  the  detriment  of  other 'creeds. 
So  powerful  was  the  political  influence  of  the  Methodists  that 
no  charter  could  be  procured  for  the  Union  from  the  common- 
wealth until  1845,  or  after  a  lapse  of  twenty  years  of  hard  work.1 


It  is  true  that  many  of  the  clergy  and  some  of  the  journals  in  that 
church  appear  to  have  sympathized  strongly  with  the  remonstrants  who 
opposed  the  granting  of  the  charter  in  1828.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  a 
large  number  of  the  laity  in  that  church  who  had  knowledge  of  the  char- 
acter and  work  of  The  American  Sunday-School  Union  were  not  only 
friendly  to  it,  but  several  of  them  signed  a  memorial  answering  the 
remonstrants  and  giving  reasons  why  a  charter  should  be  granted. 

Juvenile  Literature,  1800. — Dr  Packard,  then  editor  of  the  publica- 
tions of  the  Union,  on  March  5,  1850,  addressed  a  letter  to  a  number  of 
leading  educators  and  business  people  in  various  walks  of  life  presenting 
this  question: 

We  are  often  asked  by  children  and  youth  who  have  been 
accustomed  all  their  short  lives  to  a  superabundance  of  books, 
What  the  people,  who  are  now  fifty  or  sixty  years  old,  used  to  do 
for  books  when  they  were  children.  .  .  .  What  were  the  titles, 
size,  price,  and  character  of  books  which  were  then  regarded  as 
properly  children's  books?  It  would  be  a  favor  to  us  if  you  could 
describe  the  general  character  of  such  books  and  whether  they 
were  published  in  this  country  or  abroad. 

1  S<<-  Thr  Chart, r,  A  Plain  Statement  of  Facts;  also  The  Remonstrance  and  A  Memo- 
rial, in  answer  to  a  Remonstrance,  and  Letter  to  the  Editor  of  The  Christian  Advocate  and 
Journal,  1828. 


APPENDIX  463 

Answers  were  received  from  persons  living  in  Braintree,  Amherst, 
Springfield,  Northampton,  Massachusetts;  Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania; 
Wethersfield,  Norwich,  East  Windsor,  Hartford,  Connecticut;  Keene, 
New  Hampshire,  and  from  several  other  places,  some  of  whom  furnished 
quite  an  extended  list  of  books  current  in  their  childhood,  a  very  few  of 
which  could  be  properly  called  children's  books.1 

The  "Horn"  books  and  the  "Chap"  books,  which  were  popular  in  the 
first  half  of  the  nineteenth  century,  had  a  wide  circulation  for  a  time,  but 
were  not  conspicuous  for  their  religious  tone.  Thus  it  is  claimed  that 
"Every  phase  of  human  nature  was  served  up  for  a  penny.  .  .  .  There 
were  to  be  had  primers,  song  books  and  joke  books;  histories,  stories, 
and  hero  tales.  They  were  printed  in  type  to  ruin  the  eyes,  pictured  in 
wood  cuts  to  startle  fancy  and  to  shock  taste — for  they  were  not  always 
suited  to  childhood."  Moreover,  the  chap  books  were  very  rudimentary 
literature,  if  we  may  believe  the  literary  critics  of  that  period. 

English  Works  vs.  American. — A  few  years  since,  our  chief  dependence 
in  this  department  (for  reading  books)  was  on  English  books,  which  we 
reprinted  with  such  illustrations  and  modifications  as  suited  them  to 
our  purpose.  "It  is  no  longer  necessary,  however,  to  resort  to  this  means 
of  supply.  The  number  of  American  pens  occupied  in  preparing  religious 
reading  for  children  is  already  large,  and  is  continually  increasing;  and 
the  change  in  the  character  of  juvenile  books,  both  in  moral  and  natural 
science,  is  very  obvious."2 

Revision  of  Publications. — This  practice  of  the  Union  to  revise  all 
works  bearing  its  imprint,  and  to  omit,  as  a  rule,  the  names  of  the  authors 
thereof  led  some  of  its  critics  to  charge  it  with  "disingenuousness"  at 
various  periods  of  its  history.  Thus  a  writer  in  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
Church  ascribes  disingenousness  to  the  American  Sunday-School  Union 
"in  mutilating  books  to  fit  its  union  principle,"  instancing  the  Dairyman's 
Daughter  as  having  suffered  such  mutilation  apparently,  on  the  ground 
that  those  mentioned  in  it  were  not  given  their  full  title,  thus  robbing 
them  of  some  dignity.3  But,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  the  Rev.  Legh  Richmond 
wrote  the  story  of  Dairyman's  Daughter,  as  published  first  in  book  form, 
when  he  was  honorary  secretary  of  the  London  Religious  Tract  Society. 
That  being  an  undenominational  society,  he  wished  the  book  to  be 
acceptable  throughout  all  denominations.  He  himself  therefore  in  his 
original  edition  made  whatever  omissions  were  found  in  the  editions  by 
the  American  Sunday-School  Union.  Curiously  enough,  this  charge  of 
disingenuousness  was  made  early  in  the  history  of  the  Society,  and  this 
same  book  was  instanced  as  proof  of  it.  But  the  Rev.  T.  S.  Grimshawe, 
the  friend  and  chosen  biographer  of  Rev.  Legh  Richmond,  in  England, 

1  Report,  1850,  pp.  53-69. 

2  Report  of  American  Sunday- School  Union  for  1833,  p.  16. 

*  O.  S.  Michael,  The  Sunday-School  in  the  Development  of  the  American  Church. 


464  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

examined  the  edition  issued  by  the  American  Sunday-School  Union  and 
pronounced  it  "in  every  respect  conformable  to  the  original,"  and  Dr. 
G.  T.  Bedell  also  said  that  the  Union's  edition  was  an  exact  copy  of  the 
original.1 

There  were  "mutilated  editions"  issued  by  private  publishers,  chiefly 
abridgments  of  the  original  work,  but  not  by  the  Union. 

Therefore  it  is  clear  that  the  managers  of  the  Union  were  consistent 
in  their  course,  and  aimed  not  to  credit  a  work  to  the  author  unless  it  had 
his  full  approbation.  It  further  accounts  for  their  almost  universal 
custom  of  omitting  the  names  of  authors  in  their  books — a  custom  which 
prevailed  for  upward  of  forty  years. 

The  managers  expressly  declared  that  the  Union  was  responsible  for 
whatever  publications  bore  the  impress  of  the  Society  in  full,  but  not 
responsible  for  any  other.    They  said: 

The  declaration  which  the  title  page  of  each  of  our  publications 
makes,  shifts  the  burden  of  responsibility  for  every  line  and 
letter  upon  the  Society,  whether  the  name  of  the  original 
author  is  retained  or  expunged.  And  while  we  regard,  scrupu- 
lously, the  rights  of  authors,  and  the  provisions  of  law  by 
which  they  are  secured  from  violation,  we  esteem  every  book 
which  is  given  to  the  world,  without  this  protection,  as  common 
property,  and  claim  the  liberty  to  use  it  in  whatever  way  will 
best  subserve  the  purposes  of  religious  education. 

They  added: 

This  right  of  revision  is  enjoyed  to  its  fullest  extent  by  all 
others,  without  molestation  and  complaint,  and  there  seems  to 
be  no  good  reason  why  it  should  be  denied  to  those  whose  only 
object  in  exercising  it  is  public  advantage.2 

Anniversary  Hymns. — W.  B.  Tappam  composed  original  hymns  which 
were  sung  at  the  anniversary  of  the  American  Sunday-School  Union  for 
each  year  from  1825  to  1828  inclusive;  six  or  seven  hymns.  Dr.  W.  A. 
Muhlenberg  composed  two  similar  hymns  for  1831.  Willis  Gaylord 
Clark  composed  a  hymn  for  1832.  Later  the  use  of  special  collections  of 
hymns  on  anniversary  occasions  was  resumed,  about  1859  or  1860,  and 
several  such  collections  were  prepared  and  issued  by  George  S.  Scofield, 
agent  of  the  American  Sunday-School  Union  in  New  York.  Several  of 
these  hymns  found  their  way  into  more  permanent  collections  also  issued 
by  this  Society. 

1  G.  T.  Bedell,  Life  of  Leigh  Richmond,  p.  102. 
*  Report,  1831,  pp.  16,  17. 


APPENDIX  465 

Fivefold  Treatment  and  Expositions  of  the  Sunday-School  Lessons  of 
1830,  an  Adaptation  of  Gall's  Lesson  System 

SECTION  XVII 

Parable  of  the  Sower. — Luke  viii.  4-15 
See  also  Matt.  xiii.  1-23,  and  Mark  iv.  1-25 
NARRATIVE 
Jesus  and  his  disciples,  soon  after  the  circumstance  which  took  place 
at  the  pool  of  Bethesda,  passing  through  the  corn  fields  on  the  Sabbath 
day,  and  being  hungry,  plucked  the  ears  of  corn,  by  which  they  gave 
offence  to  some  of  the  Pharisees,  (Matt.  xii.  1-8.  Mark  ii.  23-28.  Luke 
vi.  1-5.)  A  few  days  afterwards,  he  cured  the  man  with  a  withered  hand; 
and  because  of  the  opposition  and  persecution  of  the  Jews  on  that  account, 
he  withdrew  himself  from  them,  (Matt.  xii.  9-21.  Mark  hi.  1-12.  Luke 
vi.  6-11.)  After  having  his  miracles  again  ascribed  to  Belzebub,  which 
he  refuted,  he  was  visited  by  his  mother  and  brethren,  who  were  become 
exceedingly  anxious  for  his  welfare,  but  they  could  not  come  in  for  the 
crowd,  (Matt.  xii.  22-50.  Mark  hi.  22-35.)  Jesus  then  came  out  of  the 
house,  which  could  not  contain  the  multitude,  and  went  to  the  sea  side, 
where  he  delivered  the  parable  of  the  Sower,  and  afterwards  interpreted  it. 

EXERCISE 

Ver.  4.  Who  were  gathered  together?  From  whence  did  they  come? 
To  whom  did  they  come?  How  did  Jesus  speak  to  them? — 5.  Who 
went  out  to  sow?  What  did  he  sow?  Where  did  the  first  portion  of  seed 
fall?  What  became  of  it?  By  what  was  it  devoured? — 6.  Where  did 
the  second  portion  of  seed  fall?  What  became  of  it?  When  did  it  wither? 
What  made  it  wither? — 7.  Where  did  the  third  portion  of  seed  fall? 
What  sprang  up?  With  what  did  the  thorns  spring  up?  What  was 
choked?  By  what  was  the  seed  choked? — 8.  Where  did  the  fourth 
portion  of  seed  fall?  What  became  of  it?  How  much  fruit  did  it  produce? 
Who  cried?  When  did  he  cry?  Who  were  to  hear? — 9.  Who  asked 
for  an  explanation?  Of  what  did  they  ask  an  explanation? — 10.  What 
mysteries  were  given  them  to  know?  How  were  others  instructed?  Why 
were  they  so  instructed? — 11.  Who  explained  the  parable?  What  is 
meant  by  the  seed  in  the  parable? — 12.  What  is  meant  by  the  way-side? 
Who  cometh?  What  does  he  take  away?  From  whence  does  he  take  it 
away?  Why  does  he  take  the  word  from  their  hearts?  What  would 
happen  were  they  to  believe? — 13.  What  is  said  of  the  rock,  or  stony- 
ground  hearers?  When  do  they  receive  the  word?  How  do  they  receive 
the  word?  What  is  that  which  they  have  not?  What  do  they  do  for  a 
while?  When  do  they  fall  away? — 14.  When  is  it  said  the  thorny- 
ground  hearers  go  forth?  What  becomes  of  them  when  they  go  forth? 
With  what  are  they  choked?  What  do  they  not  bring  to  perfection? — 
15.  What  kind  of  heart  have  the  good-ground  hearers?  What  do  they 
do  when  they  hear  the  word?    How  do  they  bring  forth  fruit? 

EXPLANATIONS 

Ver.  4.  Parable,  A  continued  comparison  of  one  thing  to  another.  A 
picture  of  spiritual  things,  by  means  of  sensible  and  external  objects. 

5.  A  Sower,  A  person  who  scatters  seed  in  a  field,  or  garden  for  the 
purpose  of  its  growing  up  and  producing  fruit.  Way-side,  Side  of  the 
road.    Trodden,  Trampled  upon  with  the  feet.    Fowls,  Birds. 


466  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

6.  Lacked  moisture,  Wanted  water;  was  dry  at  the  root. 

7.  Choked  it,  Kept  it  from  the  sun  and  air,  so  that  it  could  not  thrive, 
or  bring  fruit  to  perfection. 

8.  Hundred-fold,  A  hundred  times  as  much  as  the  quantity  at  first 
sown. 

10.     Mysteries,  things  not  easily  understood. 

13.  Time  of  temptation,  Times  of  trial,  persecution,  or  enticements  to  sin 
and  apostacy. 

14.  Perfection,  To  a  complete  state. 
Patience,  With  calm  submission  and  constancy. 

EXPLANATION  OF  THE  SYMBOLS 

Seed,  The  word  of  God,  or  the  truths  of  the  gospel  which  ought  to  be 
kept  pure,  and  liberally  sown  in  every  part  of  the  field  of  this  world. 

Sowers,  Ministers,  teachers,  parents,  and  all  who  communicate  the 
truths  of  the  gospel  to  others.  The  hearers  are  represented  as  ground  of 
different  kinds,  receiving  this  seed  according  to  the  state  of  their  hearts, 
and  circumstances  in  life. 

Way-side  hearers,  (1.)  Those  who,  by  inattention,  wandering  thoughts, 
or  drowsiness,  are  prevented  from  hearing  or  understanding  the  word 
when  it  is  delivered  or  read.  (2.)  Those  who  are  so  allured  by  the 
deceitfulness  of  sin,  that  they  will  not  allow  the  truths  of  the  gospel  to 
have  any  impression  on  their  hearts.  (3.)  Those  whose  violent  preju- 
dices, wicked  lives,  and  unruly  lusts  and  passions,  induce  them  to  con- 
temn and  trample  upon  the  truths  of  the  gospel. 

Stony-ground  hearers,  Those  whose  imaginations  are  easily  excited, 
and  who  are  induced,  without  due  consideration,  to  receive  the  word 
with  joy,  and  for  a  while  to  make  a  promising  profession;  but  not  having 
their  religion  placed  on  a  proper  foundation,  give  it  up  whenever  they 
are  called  to  suffer  persecution,  or  when  any  sufficiently  powerful  tempta- 
tion occurs. 

Thorny-ground  hearers,  They  who  make,  and  continue  to  maintain  an 
outward  profession  of  religion;  but  who  permit  themselves  to  be  so 
absorbed  by  the  business  or  the  pleasures  of  life,  that  religion  is  neg- 
lected, becomes  a  mere  name,  and  brings  forth  no  fruit  to  perfection. 

Good-ground  hearers,  Those  who,  having  their  affections  set  more  on 
the  things  of  God,  than  the  things  of  the  world,  having  their  hearts  re- 
newed by  the  operation  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  receive  and  nourish  the 
seed  of  the  word;  which  brings  forth  fruit  in  their  lives,  to  the  praise  and 
glory  of  God. 

LESSONS 
From  this  Section  we  learn, 
That  we  should  embrace  every  opportunity  of  having  our  knowledge 
increased,  and  the  things  of  God  made  plain  to  our  understanding, 
ver.  9. 
That  the  desire  for  wisdom  is  the  way  to  get  wisdom.    They  who  apply 
to  Christ  for  knowledge  shall  not  be  disappointed;  while  others 
who  are  careless,  shall  hear  without  understanding,  ver.  10. 
That  a  mere  attendance  on  the  preaching  of  the  word,  or  the  means  of 

grace,  is  no  sure  sign  of  true  religion,  ver.  12. 
That  wandering  thoughts  and  inattention  in  hearing  the  word,  are  invi- 
tations to  Satan  to  render  it  useless,  ver.  12. 
That  there  may  be  many  fair  appearances  and  even  zealous  affections 
in  the  profession  of  religion,  without  true  and  saving  faith,  ver.  13. 


APPENDIX  467 

That  they  who  trust  in  their  own  strength,  lean  on  a  broken  reed.  Temp- 
tation or  persecution  will  dissipate  all  those  resolutions  which  have 
not  their  foundation  on  the  grace  of  Christ,  and  a  sense  of  human 
weakness,  ver.  13. 

That  indulgence  in  worldly  pleasures  is  dangerous  to  true  religion. 
Sensual  gratification  destroys  the  relish  for  holiness  and  heaven, 
and  prevents  the  growth  of  humility  and  self-restraint,  ver.  14. 

That  a  medium  station  in  society  is  that  most  favourable  to  the  prosperity 
of  true  godliness.  Affluence  and  want, — riches  and  care, — each  in 
its  own  way  choke  the  word,  and  render  it  unfruitful,  ver.  14. 

That  legal  observances,  and  rapturous  emotions,  though  beautiful  in 
the  sight  of  men,  will  not  be  accepted  of  God,  unless  they  bring  their 
fruit  to  perfection,  ver.  14. 

That  they  who  would  receive  the  word  effectually,  and  bring  forth  fruit, 
must  have  their  hearts  prepared,  and  made  good  and  honest  by  the 
Spirit  of  God,  ver.  15. 

That  an  essential  ingredient  in  true  faith,  is  a  patient  continuance  in 
well  doing.  They  must  not  only  ripen  into  fruit,  but  they  must 
continue  to  bring  forth  fruit  with  patience,  ver.  15. 

Testimony  of  Henry  Ward  Beecher. — At  the  anniversary  of  the 
Society  in  1848  the  Rev.  Henry  Ward  Beecher,  then  pastor  of  Ply- 
mouth Congregational  Church,  Brooklyn,  New  York,  but  recently  from 
Indianapolis,  Indiana,  said: 

There  are  continual  demands  made,  and  still  making,  on  the 
East,  in  behalf  of  the  West;  and  it  is  Give,  give,  give — Send 
send,  send — Come,  come,  come — continually.  Must  the  East, 
because  it  stands  in  the  relation  of  an  elder  brother  to  the  West, 
adopt  and  bring  up  the  child?  Must  the  East  feed  and  clothe  and 
educate  the  West,  and  pay  all  her  bills?  How  long  before  the 
West  will  become  of  age,  that  we  may  dismiss  her  from  our  care? 
How  many  colleges  must  we  found?  How  many  ministers  must 
we  send  out?  How  long  must  we  stand  as  the  guardians  of  the 
West?  And  how  much  of  the  funds  of  the  American  Sunday- 
School  Union  are  to  be  expended  before  we  have  accomplished 
the  work  of  building  up  and  educating  the  West? 

I  confess  that  I  sympathize  with  these  querists;  and  were 
I  a  layman,  as  I  am  a  clergyman,  and  if  I  was  rich,  as  I  am  not, 
and  certainly  never  shall  be,  I  should  like  to  know  the  end— if 
there  be  any  end— to  all  these  things.  .  .  . 

Every  well  devised  system  of  benevolence  should  have  this 
in  view;  that  their  aid  should  be  so  given  that  it  shall  not  conduce 
to  the  dependence  of  those  aided,  but  to  their  independence. 

This  principle  is  pre-eminently  applicable  to  the  West.  She 
does  not  come  here  as  a  slave — she  does  not  come  here  as  a  beg- 
gar. I  speak  of  being  of  her,  for,  although  temporarily  trans- 
planted, my  heart  is  still  there.  .  .  .  No;  this  is  all  we  ask  in  the 
West:  we  ask,  that  as,  in  the  beginning  of  the  world,  man 
received  help  from  on  high, — that  as,  in  the  beginning  of  our  na- 
tional existence,  we  received  aid  from  abroad, — that  as,  in  the 
beginning  of  every  great  enterprise,  aid  is  necessary — that 
inasmuch  as  civilization   always  works  from  within  outward, 


468  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

and  never  inversely, — inasmuch  as  civilization  is  indigenous  to 
no  soil,  but  is  always  transplanted — so  we  in  the  West  ask,  that 
in  her  juvenile  days,  while  she  opens  roads,  constructs  cities 
and  villages,  digs  canals  and  lays  railroads,  you  should  help  her. 
She  does  not  wish  you  to  do  all  her  other  work,  but  to  help  her 
while  she  founds  schools  and  colleges  and  theological  seminaries 
and  rolls  the  vast  tide  of  civilization  throughout  her  boundless 
extent.  .  .  . 

I  look  forward  to  the  day  when  the  West  shall  say  to  the  East, 
''Come,  we  will  help  you  to  found  new  states,  to  build  up  other 
communities,  and  furnish  them  with  schools,  colleges,  and 
churches." 

CALL   FOR   A   NATIONAL    SUNDAY-SCHOOL    CONVENTION  AS 

PROPOSED   BY  THE   AMERICAN   SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

UNION,   1832 

Circular  to  Sunday-School  Teachers  and  Superintendents. — In  pur- 
suance of  public  notice,1  a  meeting  of  teachers,  superintendents,  and 
others  engaged  in  conducting  Sunday-schools  was  held  in  Philadelphia 
on  the  23d  of  May  last,  at  which  were  present  persons  from  ^he  following 
States: 

Maine  Virginia 

Massachusetts  District  of  Columbia 

Connecticut  South  Carolina 

New  York  Georgia 

New  Jersey  Ohio 

Pennsylvania  Indiana 

Delaware  Michigan  Territory 

Maryland 

At  this  meeting  it  was  unanimously  resolved  that  a  general  conven- 
tion of  persons  actively  employed  in  Sunday-schools  should  be  assembled 
in  New  York,  on  the  first  Wednesday  of  October  next.  The  object  of 
the  convention  is  to  deliberate  on  the  best  plans  of  promoting  the  useful- 
ness of  this  system  of  religious  instruction,  and,  if  possible,  to  adopt  some 
means  of  rendering  it  more  efficient  than  it  yet  has  been.  The  mode  of 
representation  agreed  upon  at  the  meeting  followed,  as  noted  on  p.  440. 

The  circular  continued: 

We  trust  that  you  will  perceive  at  once  the  importance  of  the  measure, 
and  that  you  will  take  timely  steps  to  have  your  schools  represented 
agreeably  to  the  above  plan,  and  provide  for  the  expense  of  your  dele- 
gates. It  is  a  subject  in  which  we  are  all  deeply  concerned,  the  results 
of  which  will  more  than  compensate  for  the  expense  that  will  be  incurred. 

A  committee  of  arrangements  was  appointed,  consisting  of  five  gentle- 
men residing  in  the  city  of  New  York,  who  request  the  delegates  to  report 
themselves,  on  their  arrival,  at  No.  140  Nassau  Street. 

1  This  notice  was  issued  by  the  managers  of  the  American  Sunday-School  Union 
May.  1832. 


APPENDIX  469 

In  order  to  collect  the  greatest  amount  of  information  and  advice  on 
the  subject,  the  accompanying  list  of  interrogatories  was  prepared,  and  a 
committee  appointed  to  circulate  them  as  widely  as  practicable,  and  to 
urge  upon  all  those  who  receive  them  to  communicate  their  views  on 
the  general  subjects  to  the  committee,  who  will  condense  the  information 
received,  and  present  it  for  the  consideration  of  the  convention. 

Your  serious  and  immediate  attention  to  this  service  is  most  respect- 
fully and  earnestly  solicited.  It  is  not  expected  that  your  answers  will 
be  limited  by  the  form  of  the  questions,  but  that  you  will  furnish  your 
views  in  any  shape,  and  to  any  extent  you  please,  on  any  topic  connected 
with  the  subject  of  our  inquiry,  and  whether  contained  in  the  questions 
or  not.  Our  great  purpose  is  to  procure  a  full  expression  of  the  opinions 
of  experienced  and  intelligent  teachers,  and  others,  on  all  points  con- 
nected with  the  system,  so  that  the  convention  may  be  guided  in  their 
course  by  the  information  thus  collected  from  the  whole  country. 

As  much  time  and  labor  will  be  required  to  examine  and  prepare  the 
replies  for  the  use  of  the  convention,  we  hope  you  will  send  your  com- 
munication so  that  we  may  receive  it  by  the  first  day  of  September.  You 
will  please  address  it  to  John  Hall, 

No.  22  Post-office, 

Philadelphia. 
INTERROGATORIES 
I.    Schools 

1.  Have  you  schools  for  infants? — for  children? — for  adults? 

2.  What  is  the  total  number  of  your  learners? 

3.  How  many  of  your  young  scholars  are  children  of  persons  belonging 
to  your  congregation? 

4.  How  many  children  belonging  to  the  congregation  are  not  in  the 
schools? 

5.  What  means  have  been  used  to  increase  your  schools?  What 
prevents  a  more  rapid  increase? 

6.  Are  your  schools  suspended  during  any  part  of  the  year?  If  they 
are,  for  what  reasons? 

II.     Organization 

7.  Are  the  children  classed  according  to  their  capacity  and  progress? 

8.  What  is  the  proper  number  for  a  class  of  children? 

9.  What  is  the  proper  size  of  a  room  for  a  given  number  of  pupils, 
in  reference  to  their  health  and  the  success  of  teaching?  Should  the 
classes  be  accommodated,  if  possible,  in  separated  rooms? 

10.  How  often  in  the  day  do  the  schools  meet?  How  long  are  they 
continued  each  Sabbath?  What  is  the  order  of  exercises  and  time  allotted 
to  each? 


470  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

11.  Are  children  enrolled  or  dismissed  without  the  knowledge  of  their 
parents  or  guardians? 

12.  Do  you  approve  of  having  more  than  one  teacher  to  a  class, 
acting  at  different  times? 

III.     Discipline 

13.  What  is  your  system  of  discipline?  Do  you  require  and  secure 
punctual  and  regular  attendance  in  teachers  and  scholars — every  one 
taking  their  seats  as  soon  as  they  enter  the  room,  with  order  and  stillness? 
How  do  you  effect  this? 

14.  What  are  the  proper  modes  of  punishment?  Is  corporal  correc- 
tion ever  justifiable?  Should  a  scholar  be  expelled  under  any  circum- 
atances? 

15.  What  is  the  best  mode  of  urging  children  to  diligence  and  regu- 
larity? What  sort  of  rewards  should  be  offered,  if  any?  Is  it  expedient 
to  distribute  premiums?  If  so,  how  often,  on  what  grounds,  and  in  what 
manner? 

16.  How  do  you  dispose  of  the  scholars  during  the  time  of  public 
worship?  Should  they  be  taken  to  the  place  of  worship,  or  have  services 
peculiarly  adapted  to  them  in  some  other  place?  j 

17.  What  degree  of  conformity  to  the  discipline  and  purposes  of  the 
school  is  considered  necessary,  on  the  part  of  a  teacher,  to  maintain  his 
station? 

IV.     Visiting 

18.  How  often,  and  on  what  system,  are  your  scholars  visited  at  their 
homes?  What  effect  has  it  upon  them  and  their  families?  How  can  these 
visits  be  best  conducted  so  as  to  render  them  agreeable  and  useful? 

19.  Should  committees  be  appointed  to  visit  those  whom  any  of  the 
regular  teachers  may  be  prevented  from  visiting? 

20.  Should  committees  be  appointed  to  visit  houses  to  procure 
scholars?  Is  it  desirable,  where  circumstances  admit  of  it,  to  employ 
persons  to  perform  these  combined  duties  of  visiting  scholars  and  their 
parents,  procuring  new  scholars,  and  advancing  the  cause  generally? 

V.     Mode  of  Instruction 

21.  Please  to  state  fully  your  views  of  the  best  method  of  instruction, 
whether  orally  by  the  teacher,  by  conversation  with  the  class,  or  with  the 
scholars  individually,  or  by  lectures;  whether  it  is  advisable  to  encourage 
the  children  to  express  their  own  sentiments,  to  discuss  important  points 
with  them,  and  to  gain  their  assent  to  truth  by  reason  instead  of  authority. 

22.  Mention  any  mode  of  communicating  knowledge  which  you  know 
or  believe  to  be  peculiarly  adapted  to  the  object. 

23.  What  is  the  best  plan  for  instructing  children  who  cannot  read, 
and  what  are  the  best  elementary  books? 


APPENDIX  471 

24.  What  is  the  most  effectual  method  of  engaging  the  attention  of 
learners,  and  interesting  them  in  religious  and  moral  subjects? 

25.  Do  you  use  maps,  pictures,  diagrams,  etc.? 

26.  Do  you  impress  the  evidences  of  Divine  wisdom,  power,  and 
providence  by  facts  drawn  from  astronomy,  natural  philosophy,  etc.? 
Would  a  manual  furnishing  the  rudiments  of  natural  science,  and  adapted 
to  Sunday-schools,  be  proper  to  be  introduced? 

27.  How  much  should  children  be  required  to  commit  to  memory? 
Do  they  learn  to  repeat  the  Ten  Commandments  accurately? 

28.  Do  your  teachers  see  that  the  children  who  cannot  read  are  placed 
at  public  schools,  or  are  otherwise  instructed  during  the  week? 

29.  Have  you  any  peridoical  examination  of  the  classes  by  the  min- 
ister, or  other  person,  in  the  presence  of  the  congregation. 

VI.      Union  Questions 

30.  Do  you  use  the  Union  Questions?  If  so,  please  state  how  you  use 
them — whether  by  asking  all  the  questions  as  they  stand  in  the  lessons, 
or  whether  you  select  them  according  to  the  capacity  and  intelligence 
of  the  several  members  of  the  class,  or  ask  questions  of  your  own  on  the 
general  subject  of  the  lesson,  without  reference  to  the  order  or  language 
of  the  book,  etc.?  Please  mention  particularly  your  views  on  this  head, 
and  the  result  of  your  experience  or  knowledge  in  regard  to  the  plan  of 
using  the  Questions. 

31.  Can  you  suggest  any  improvement  in  the  construction  of  the 
Union  Questions? 

32.  Do  you  put  the  questions  to  each  class,  or  to  each  scholar  indi- 
vidually? 

33.  Are  the  scholars  required  to  be  prepared  to  recite  the  lesson  of 
the  day  before  they  come  to  the  school?  What  are  the  best  means  of 
securing  this  object? 

VII.     Other  Books 

34.  Do  you  use  any  other  book  than  the  Union  Questions? 

35.  What  is  your  opinion  of  the  use  of  denominational  catechisms? 

36.  Can  you  recommend  any  work  not  in  general  use  which  you  be- 
lieve to  be  adapted  to  the  purposes  of  Sunday-school  instruction? 

VIII.     Libraries 

37.  What  is  your  plan  of  conducting  the  libraries?  How  often  do 
you  purchase  books? 

38.  Do  you  appoint  any  person  to  examine  books  the  character  of 
which  is  not  authenticated?  How  do  you  determine  what  books  are  fit 
for  the  library? 


472  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

39.  What  principle  do  you  adopt  with  respect  to  the  introduction  of 
other  than  religious  books? 

40.  How  do  you  regulate  the  giving  out  of  books,  and  ascertain 
whether  they  are  read?  If  you  know  of  a  successful  method,  state  it  very 
particularly. 

41.  What  suggestions  can  you  make  respecting  the  character  of  the 
books  published  for  the  use  of  Sunday-schools?  Can  you  suggest  im- 
provements? What  kinds  are  most  acceptable  and  useful?  What  kinds 
are  most  wanted?  Are  they  adpated  to  adult  classes?  What  influence 
do  they  appear  to  exert  on  their  readers?  Are  they  extensively  read  by 
the  parents  and  families  of  the  learners?  Are  books  needed  in  other 
languages  than  the  English? 

42.  Is  it  proper  to  publish  fictitious  books  for  Sunday-school  reading? 

43.  Have  you  a  librae  for  the  express  use  of  teachers  in  preparing 
themselves  on  the  lessons?    What  books  are  needed  for  their  special  use? 

IX.     Other  Means  of  Success 

44.  Are  direct  efforts  made  for  the  spiritual  welfare  of  your  classes? 
Do  you  think  the  teachers  labor,  and  pray  for,  and  expect  this  as  the 
great  end  of  their  exertions? 

45.  How  many  teachers  and  scholars  are  professors  of  religion?  Is 
there  any  peculiar  seriousness  among  either?  What  are  the  feelings  of 
teachers  on  this  subject? 

46.  Do  the  teachers  hold  special  prayer  meetings  on  the  Sabbath, 
or  at  other  times,  besides  the  regular  one  on  the  second  Monday  of  every 
month?  Are  any  pains  taken  to  make  the  Sunday-school  Monthly  Con- 
cert interesting?  Do  you  hold  prayer  meetings  with  the  children  who 
are  willing  to  attend  them?  What  is  the  best  plan  of  conducting  such 
meetings?  Should  seriously  disposed  or  pious  children  be  encouraged, 
under  any  circumstances,  to  hold  prayer  meetings  among  themselves? 

47.  Has  there  at  any  time  been  any  unusual  attention  to  religion  in 
your  school,  and  what  accession  to  the  church  has  been  the  result? 
What  circumstances  have  appeared  to  you  to  advance  or  hinder  the 
progress  of  piety  in  your  scholars? 

48.  How  do  you  account  for  the  comparative  want  of  interest  in 
Sunday-schools  on  the  part  of  many  ministers  and  church  officers? 
How  shall  members  of  churches  and  congregations  be  interested  in  them? 
How  shall  parents  be  induced  to  see  that  their  children  prepare  their 
lessons?     Are  Sunday-schools  commonly  mentioned  in  family  prayers? 

49.  What  is  the  best  plan  of  mutual  instruction  and  study  for  teach- 
ers? 

50.  Do  teachers  hold  weekly  meetings  to  study  the  lesson? 

51.  Does  your  minister  lecture  on  the  lesson?  Should  there  be  a 
uniformity  in  the  explanations  of  passages  of  Scripture  by  all  the  teachers? 


APPENDIX  473 

X.     Superintendents 

52.  What  are  the  duties  of  a  superintendent? 

53.  Should  he  have  a  class?    How  often  should  he  address  the  school? 

54.  How  may  he  secure  the  union  of  the  teachers  with  him  in  pro- 
moting the  general  interests  of  the  classes?  How  often  should  they  meet 
together  to  consult  on  the  state  of  the  school? 

55.  What  should  be  the  distinction  between  his  authority  and  that 
of  the  teachers? 

56.  Is  it  in  any  case  advisble  to  have  more  than  one  superintendent 
of  a  school  at  the  same  time? 

XI.     Bible  and  Adult  Classes 

57.  Could  not  more  be  done  for  the  establishment  of  schools  for 
adults,  both  for  those  who  cannot  read  and  those  who  can,  but  are  from 
any  cause  prevented  from  regular  attendance  on  public  worship? 

58.  Might  not  Bible  classes  be  formed  to  include  all  ages  and  ranks 
in  the  congregation,  but  especially  of  youth  who  are  above  the  ordinary 
age  of  Sunday  scholars? 

59.  Is  it  expedient  to  use  question  books  with  such  classes?  Should 
they  be  required  to  recite  Scripture  lessons? 

60.  Have  your  instructions  to  Bible  classes  a  direct  reference  to  pre- 
pare the  members  for  Sunday-school  teaching? 

61.  What  method  of  studying  the  Scriptures  do  you  recommend  to 
the  scholars?  Do  you  propose  religious  subjects  to  be  written  upon  by 
your  scholars? 

62.  At  what  age  are  Sunday  scholars  transferred  to  the  Bible  class? 

63.  Is  it  proper  to  instruct  them  on  other  subjects  than  those  im- 
mediately connected  with  the  Bible,  such  as  history,  natural  philosophy, 
etc.? 

64.  Is  there  any  particular  advantage  in  having  Bible  and  adult 
classes  taught  in  the  same  apartment  with  children? 

XII.  Infant  Schools 

65.  At  what  age  should  children  be  admitted  into  these  schools? 
And  what  is  the  best  mode  of  conducting  them? 

66.  What  is  the  proper  discipline  of  an  infant  Sunday-school?  What 
are  proper  subjects  and  modes  of  teaching?  And  what  exercises  are 
suitable? 

XIII.  Miscellaneous 

67.  What  is  the  best  plan  of  training  scholars  to  become  teachers? 
What  is  the  result  of  your  observation  respecting  the  usefulness  of  schol- 
ars who  have  become  teachers? 


474  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

68.  What  preparation  is  considered  necessary  to  enable  a  teacher  to 
meet  his  class? 

69.  Have  classes  been  formed  in  private  houses  when  children  cannot 
conveniently  be  sent  to  the  school? 

70.  What  is  the  best  system  of  organization  of  unions  for  towns  or 
counties? 

71.  What  is  your  method  of  raising  funds  for  the  support  of  the 
school? 

72.  Is  it  useful  to  have  an  annual  meeting,  or  celebration,  say  on  the 
Fourth  of  July,  of  the  teachers  and  scholars  within  a  convenient  district? 
If  so,  what  would  be  the  appropriate  services  for  such  an  occasion? 

73.  What  attention  is  given  to  the  cultivation  of  sacred  singing,  and 
what  measures  should  be  taken  to  promote  it  more  generally? 

74.  What  are  the  best  means  of  retaining  the  elder  scholars? 

75.  Do  you  approve  of  encouraging  the  children  to  bring  contribu- 
tions from  their  own  pocket-money  for  benevolent  objects? 

76.  By  what  means  can  all  the  intelligent  adults  of  your  congregation 
be  afforded  the  opportunity  of  being  actively  engaged  in  giving  instruc- 
tion on  the  Sabbath? 

77.  Do  you  provide  clothing  for  those  children  who,  for  want  of  it, 
would  be  prevented  from  attending? 

78.  Is  any  custom  or  personal  habit  indulged  by  teachers  which  their 
scholars  might  not  with  propriety  adopt? 

[The  above  circular  was  printed  on  eight  folio  pages,  leaving  large 
spaces  for  answers  after  each  question. — Editor.] 

Churches  and  Confessions. — As  the  American  Sunday-School  Union 
has  not  purposed  to  organize  churches,  it  has  never  attempted  system- 
atically or  regularly  to  preserve,  collate  or  gather  information  in  regard 
to  the  number  of  churches  that  followed  the  Union  schools  it  has  founded. 
Much  less  has  it  attempted  to  take  note  of  the  denominational  relations 
of  those  churches. 

Nor  has  the  Union  at  any  period  been  careful  or  concerned  to  have  its 
workers  note  and  report  the  number  of  persons  who  confessed  Christ  in 
its  schools.  A  number  of  the  schools  and  auxiliary  societies  that  made 
reports  direct  to  the  Union  in  the  early  period  of  its  history  frequently 
but  incidentally  noted  cases  of  persons  who  were  led  to  confess  Christ 
through  the  Bible  instruction  in  Union  schools.  Rarely,  however,  was 
there  any  attempt  to  enroll  or  state  the  exact  number  in  such  cases. 
The  frequency,  however,  of  revivals  and  confessions  occasionally  reported 
and  published  attracted  the  attention  of  the  friends  and  supporters  of 
the  cause.  They  recognized  those  so  reported  as  an  indication  of  the 
remarkable  and  conspicuous  results,  in  part,  of  the  evangelical  message 
first  given  to  the  places  unreached  by  other  missions,  and  which  made 


APPENDIX  475 

disciples  of  teachers  and  scholars,  as  well  as  of  members  of  the  families 
from  which  the  scholars  came.  Most  of  the  detailed  reports  from  schools 
and  auxiliaries  from  1820  to  1835  repeatedly  noted  numbers  that  made 
public,  confession  of  Christ.  Not  only  was  this  true  of  the  members  of 
the  schools,  but  it  included  members  of  the  families  in  the  community. 
It  was  a  marked  evidence  of  putting  emphasis  on  godly  life  in  all  the 
teaching.  These  evidences  from  confessions  have  continued  through  the 
entire  century  of  work.  Yet  there  was  no  systematic  effort  to  collate 
and  give  a  complete  census  of  the  confessions  and  conversions  thus  indi- 
cated. From  time  to  time  computations  were  made  upon  this  phase  of 
the  work.  These  are  often  noted  in  the  body  of  this  book,  as  the  reader 
will  have  already  discovered. 

Moreover,  the  reports  of  churches  growing  out  of  union  schools,  or 
following  them,  have  been  incidental  rather  than  regular  reports.  Some- 
times the  workers  told  of  the  organization  of  a  church  in  connection  with 
the  change  of  a  Union  school  to  a  denominational  one,  when  a  church 
was  organized  where  the  pioneer  school  was  located.  Sometimes,  too, 
these  cases  were  noted  in  the  reports  of  the  Society,  but  no  effort  was 
made  to  tabulate  even  these  reports.  Only  a  very  small  portion  of  the 
whole  number  of  first  churches  actually  following  from  the  Union  schools 
were  thus  reported  or  noted. 

An  illustration  of  the  extent  to  which  churches  have  had  the  way 
prepared  for  their  coming  by  a  Union  school  may  be  given  from  the  state 
of  Wisconsin.  Union  Sunday-school  missionary  work  was  begun  there 
some  years  before  it  ceased  to  be  a  territory  and  was  admitted  as  a 
State.  Mr.  J.  W.  Vail  was  an  early  (but  not  the  first)  Sunday-school 
mission  worker  in  Wisconsin  under  the  Society.  He  wrote  an  account 
of  the  results  of  the  Society's  services  there,  which  was  published  in  a 
series  of  articles  in  the  Wisconsin  Puritan  in  1866.  He  also  furnished 
to  the  author  of  this  work  added  details  of  some  schools  in  centers  that 
had  become  cities  at  that  time.  Mr.  Vail  compiled  also  a  list  of  more 
than  a  score  of  new  settlements  that  in  1866  had  become  cities  or  large 
towns  in  that  state,  and  in  which  the  first  religious  organization  (pre- 
ceding all  churches  in  those  places)  was  a  Union  Sunday-school,  planted 
by  this  Society.  Among  the  places  so  noted  were  Neenah,  Menasha, 
Sheboygan,  Sparta,  Portage,  Fox  Lake,  Columbus  and  Oshkosh  . 

A  specimen  record  of  one  of  these  cases  now  a  large  town  was  where 
he  organized  a  Union  Sunday-school  in  a  log  house.  "There  were  only 
three  houses  (all  built  of  logs)  then  in  the  place.  Mr.  Strong,  a  young 
man  from  Boston,  was  chosen  Superintendent.  The  people  subscribed 
$2.50  and  he  doubled  it  as  a  gift  from  the  Union,  to  provide  a  meager 
supply  of  literature  to  start  the  school."  In  another  place,  now  a  city, 
a  school  was  started  in  a  tavern,  the  only  available  place.  A  private 
room  was  freely  granted  by  the  tavern-keeper,  who  was,  of  course,  not  a 


476  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

Christian,  but  was  desirous  of  having  his  children  study  the  Scriptures. 
Still  another  school  was  started  in  a  carpenter-shop  as  the  only  available 
building  in  the  place.  Both  of  these  places  are  now  large  towns  having 
many  churches.  Similar  facts  in  detail  were  given  in  regard  to  many 
other  places  by  Mr.  Vail  at  that  time.  They  were  copied  from  his  original 
records  concerning  each  of  the  places.  These  towns  now  have  healthy 
churches  belonging  to  leading  Protestant  denominations.  In  about  a 
half  a  dozen  extended  articles  in  the  Wisconsin  Puritan  Mr.  Vail  pre- 
sented a  summary  of  his  work  of  fourteen  years  in  Wisconsin.  He  stated 
that  there  were  65  Sunday-schools  in  the  territory  when  he  began. 
More  than  half  of  them  were  Union.  Several  of  them  were  formed  by  a 
previous  worker  of  the  Society.  Mr.  Vail  and  his  associates  established 
924  schools  in  42  counties  of  Wisconsin,  besides  24  schools  in  5  neighbor- 
ing counties  in  Illinois.  He  reported  having  distributed  $26,500  worth 
of  publications,  of  which  about  $8,000  ($7,874)  were  donated.  The 
schools  had,  when  organized,  a  membership  of  upward  of  16,000.  He 
notes  the  first  religious  organization  in  Beloit  (now  the  seat  of  Beloit 
College)  was  a  Union  Sunday-school,  which  now  has  many  prosperous 
churches.  More  than  50  first  churches  immediately  grew  out  of  or  fol- 
lowed the  planting  of  Union  schools,  and  in  as  many  cities  and  towns  in 
Wisconsin.  The  membership  of  these  first  churches  was  largely  com- 
posed of  members  from  these  same  Union  schools. 

Another  Union  worker  of  the  Society  in  that  state,  a  few  years  later, 
ascertained  that  about  150  churches  in  Wisconsin  and  in  eastern  Minne- 
sota had  grown  out  of  or  followed  Union  schools.  Similar  facts  might 
be  given  in  respect  to  other  states  in  the  Middle  West. 

Churches  Organized  in  Twenty-five  Years. — The  Rev.  George  P. 
Williams,  D.  D.,  Secretary  of  Missions,  has  collated  the  number  of  first 
churches  organized  from  or  immediately  following  Union  Sunday-schools 
year  by  year  for  the  past  twenty-five  years,  as  shown  by  the  reports  of  the 
missionaries  and  records  of  the  American  Sunday-School  Union.  This 
list  indicates  that  the  number  so  reported  varied  widely  in  different  years. 
That  is  doubtless  due  partly  to  the  fact  that  the  missionaries  did  not  at- 
tempt to  secure  a  complete  report  nor  to  ascertain  the  full  number  of 
churches  that  had  followed  Union  schools  in  their  respective  fields.  They 
only  reported  such  as  they  knew  or  learned  of  in  the  pursuit  of  regular 
phases  of  their  work.  It  may  also  be  partially  due  to  the  extent  of  evan- 
gelistio  interest  prevailing  throughout  the  country  in  different  years. 
Thus,  the  number  of  churches  so  reported  in  1892  was  216;  in  1893,  186, 
while  in  1894  no  churches  were  so  reported;  but  unquestionably  many 
churches  were  so  organized  that  year.  In  the  year  ending  March,  1905, 
1 38  churches  were  reported  as  organized.  The  least  number  for  any  of  the 
years  for  the  past  twenty-five  years  has  been  75  churches  organized  from 
Union  schools.     For  about  one-half  of  the  past  twenty-five  years  more 


APPENDIX  477 

than  100  churches  have  been  reported  as  so  organized  each  year.  It 
is  a  matter  of  regret  to  some  friends  that  the  Society  has  not  been 
more  diligent  in  gleaning  and  collating  the  facts  in  regard  to  churches, 
as  well  as  confessions  resulting  from  its  field  work  for  the  entire  century. 

Sunday-School  Missionaries  Who  Have  Formed  1,000  or  More  Sunday- 
Schools. — Some  of  the  missionaries  of  the  American  Sunday-School 
Union  have  been  spared  for  an  exceptionally  long  service,  and  have  been 
blessed  of  God  with  rare  tact,  skill,  and  devotion,  so  that  each  of  them 
has  founded  1,000  or  more  Sunday-schools  in  otherwise  neglected  districts 
of  the  United  States. 

There  are  many  other  of  the  Society's  missionaries  who  have  been  as 
faithful  and  devoted  and  as  self-sacrificing  as  these  whose  labors  God  has 
honored  and  blessed  in  this  particular  way  of  forming  an  exceptional 
number  of  new  schools.  But  these  are  mentioned  for  the  encouragment 
of  workers  and  of  friends  of  the  Society,  and  to  recognize  the  singular 
blessings  of  God  upon  the  humble  services  of  his  servants  in  reaching  the 
wandering  and  lost  among  the  hedges,  highways  and  byways  of  the 
country.  Many  persons  thus  reached  were  far  beyond  the  sound  of  any 
church  bell  and  the  hearing  of  any  preacher's  voice. 

Captain  W.  "W.  Bradshaw,  of  Kentucky,  gave  over  thirty  years  of 
service  to  the  Society,  which  he  entered  after  winning  the  rank  of  Captain 
for  his  gallantry  in  the  Civil  War,  and  teaching  in  the  public  schools  for 
twenty  years.  He  was  6  feet  tall,  and  straight  as  a  pine  tree,  and  had  an 
impressive  personality  and  a  commanding  voice.  He  founded  1,079 
schools  in  56  of  the  mountain  counties  of  Kentucky.  These  schools  pro- 
vided religious  instruction  for  over  100,000  children  of  the  highlanders  or 
mountaineers  of  that  state.  The  schools  reported  over  10,000  conversions, 
and  were  the  forerunners  of  over  80  churches.  Out  of  the  schools  also 
came  over  100  young  men  who  entered  the  gospel  ministry. 

T.  W.  Dimmock,  of  Georgia,  has  been  nearly  forty  years  in  the  service 
of  the  Society.  He  has  founded  nearly  1,200  (1,161)  Sunday-schools  up 
to  the  present  date,  and  is  "still  in  the  harness,"  diligent  and  faithful, 
bringing  forth  rich  spiritual  fruit  in  his  advancing  years. 

Rev.  Isaac  Emory,  of  Tennesee,  was  over  thirty  years  in  service,  which 
he  entered  after  the  Civil  War.  He  wrought  so  faithfully  and  God  so 
blessed  his  labors  that  he  reported  founding  over  1,000  (1,010)  Sunday- 
schools,  enrolling  more  than  60,000  members,  from  which%an  unusually 
large  number  of  conversions  and  churches  resulted.  After  traveling  over 
100,000  miles  on  horseback,  by  stage,  steamboat  and  railroad,  he  was 
instantly  killed  in  a  railway  accident. 

Rev.  G.  S.  Jones,  of  North  Carolina,  was  over  thirty  years  also  in  the 
service,  entering  it  after  the  Civil  War.  He  organized  1,165  new  Sunday- 
schools  with  a  membership  of  57,700  at  their  organization.  A  large  num- 
ber of  these  schools  doubled  their  membership  later,  reaching  over  100,000 
persons.  Out  of  these  schools  came  32  young  men  who  became  ministers 
of  the  gospel,  and  130  or  more  churches  were  formed  with  the  members  of 
these  schools  as  a  basis,  at  their  organization. 

J.  P.  Lane,  of  Texas,  has  been  over  thirty-five  years  in  service  and  has 


478  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

formed  about  1,200  (1,196)  new  Sunday-schools,  besides  about  500  others 
re-organized.  Mr.  Lane  has  not  grown  weary  in  well  doing  and  continues 
to  render  faithful  service,  witnessing  to  the  gracious  blessings  that  God 
bestows  upon  faithful  evangelists. 

Martin  B.  Lewis,  of  Minnesota,  gave  over  fifty  (52)'years  to  the  service- 
He  was  a  lay-evangelist,  consecrated  in  soul,  of  deep  spirituality,  and  gifted 
in  a  peculiar  manner  for  winning  souls  by  personal  work.  He  founded 
over  1,000  Sunday-schools,  many  of  them  among  people  of  foreign  birth 
and  language,  and  which  became  the  forerunners  of  over  150  churches.  He 
was  ever  welcome  to  the  homes  of  the  common  people  as  a  gospel  messen- 
ger, always  seeing  the  bright  side  of  life  and  its  events,  so  that  his  visits 
were  uniformly  welcomed  as  a  benediction. 

Rev.  John  McCullagh,  of  Kentucky,  was  in  the  regular  service  of  the 
Society  for  forty-seven  years,  following  a  volunteer  service  of  seven  years. 
For  he  was  first  a  Volunteer  Missionary,  then  commissioned  by  the 
Society  for  a  generation,  was  Superintendent  of  the  Southern  District, 
comprising  from  9  to  12  states,  and  for  four  years  later  a  General  Mission- 
ary. His  services  are  remarkable  in  that  he  personally  organized  over 
1,000  Sunday-schools,  besides  supervising  the  labors  of  a  large  number  of 
missionaries  in  the  southern  district.  He  retired  from  this  supervision 
owing  to  impaired  hearing  and  health  in  1884,  and  four  years  later  passed 
to  the  larger  life  in  1888. 

Rev.  G.  E.  Mize,  of  Alabama,  has  rendered  twenty-five  years  of  service, 
forming  nearly  1,100  (1,089)  Sunday-schools  with  a  membership  of  over 
70,000.  He  knows  of  at  least  15  young  persons  from  these  schools  who 
have  entered  the  gospel  ministry,  and  of  133  churches  that  have  followed 
and  grown  out  of  the  schools.  Mr.  Mize  continues  joyously  and  suc- 
cessfully in  this  service,  a  worker  commanding  the  confidence  and  esteem 
of  the  people  of  all  races  in  the  State. 

Stephen  Paxson,  of  Illinois,  devoted  twenty  years  to  the  missionary 
service,  and  when  worn  by  toil  and  travail  in  the  field,  he  was  transferred  to 
the  charge  of  the  Society's  Depository  in  St.  Louis  where  he  continued  for 
thirteen  years  until  called  by  the  Master  to  his  reward.  Mr.  Paxson  was 
instrumental  in  starting  1,314  Sunday-schools.  When  a  gentleman  called 
on  Mr.  Paxson,  saying  that  some  people  were  a  little  suspicious  of  the 
report  that  he  had  actually  organized  1,300  new  schools  with  more  than 
60,000  scholars,  and  wanted  to  gain  some  proof  of  it,  Mr.  Paxson  promptly 
answered,  "Here  are  my  books  containing  the  name  of  each  school,  super- 
intendent's name  and  post  office  address,  and  the  number  of  scholars,  set 
down  upon  the  very  day  it  was  organized.  I  never  leave  such  things 
over  night.  A  duplicate  is  sent  to  the  Home  Office  in  Philadelphia,  Pa." 
The  questioner  on  examining  the  records  was  satisfied,  and  bade  him 
good-bye.  It  is  said  of  "Father"  Paxson  that  he  once  performed  the  feat 
or  organizing  "40  Sabbath-schools  in  40  consecutive  days." 

C.  B.  Rhodes,  of  Arkansas,  was  for  thirty  years  in  service  as  the  repre- 
sentative of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Morris  K.  Jesup.  He  formed  over  1,000 
Sunday-schools  in  neglected  places  of  Arkansas  with  a  membership  of 
upward  of  60,000.     He  passed  to  the  other  life  in  1909. 

There  are  other  missionaries  of  the  Society  who,  by  fidelity  of  service 
and  the  schools  they  have  organized  with  other  work,  deserve  honorable 
mention.  Among  them  may  be  noted  the  Rev.  Thomas  Lain,  for  about 
thirty-four  years  in  the  service,  and  who  organized  908  schools  with  a 


APPENDIX  479 

membership  of  50,800  (50,750),  reporting  conversions  of  about  4,850 
(4,843).  Also  A.  B.  Norrell,  of  Texas,  has  organized  883  schools  with  a 
membership  of  36,900  (36,825),  out  of  which  have  grown  197  churches. 
There  are  still  other  missionaries  who  have  rendered  efficient  service  in 
evangelistic  work  and  in  securing  the  support  of  faithful  and  devoted  men 
who  have  entered  the  service.  These  have  at  the  same  time  organized 
several  hundred  schools  and  therefore  merit  honorable  mention  were  it 
possible  to  put  the  results  of  all  their  labors  in  a  tabular  form.  It  is  surely 
remarkable  evidence  of  the  blessing  of  God  upon  this  work  of  the  mission- 
aries that  12  workers  have  organized  over  12,000  Sunday-schools  which 
have  been  followed,  it  is  believed,  by  more  than  1,000  churches  connected 
with  from  20  to  30  different  denominations. 

Early  Sunday-School  Periodicals. — Before  and  during  the  first  twenty- 
five  years  of  the  last  century  periodicals,  whether  scientific,  critical,  tech- 
nical or  theological,  were  rare.  The  number  that  began  and  survived  for 
ten  years  of  that  period  either  in  Great  Britain  or  America  were  com- 
paratively few.  There  were  literary  and  political  pamphlets  of  serial  or 
periodic  issue,  but  even  they  were  irregular,  ephemeral  and  short  lived. 
Franklin's  "General  Magazine,"  1741,  Webb's  "American  Magazine,"  a 
rival  of  Franklin's,  among  others  were  started  in  America  before  the 
revolution,  but  came  to  an  untimely  end.  "The  Ladies'  Magazine,"  1792, 
Philadelphia,  survived  for  a  generation.  "The  Theological  Magazine," 
1796,  soon  expired.  Of  a  carefully  selected  list  of  275  periodicals,  noted 
in  the  American  Cyclopedia,  including  American,  English,  French,  Ger- 
man and  in  other  European  languages  in  all  fields  of  human  learning  that 
survived  to  1860,  scarcely  eighteen  were  begun  earlier  than  1820.  These, 
moreover,  were  chiefly  journals  of  scientific  societies,  and  not  properly 
magazines  or  literary  journals. 

In  America  the  "Teacher's  Offering"  for  Sunday  scholars  was  begun 
in  1823,  bought  by  the  American  Sunday-School  Union  and  continued 
under  the  title  of  "Youth's  Friend"  for  upward  of  twenty-five  years,  when 
it  was  succeeded  by  the  "Youth's  Penny  Gazette."  The  "Infant's 
Magazine"  was  also  begun  about  1828  as  a  small  32mo  periodical,  with 
stories  and  illustrations  to  interest  the  wee  ones. 

Great  Britain  issued  periodicals  for  Sunday-schools  at  an  earlier  date 
than  any  in  America.  The  London  Sunday-School  Union,  in  its  early 
work,  made  larger  use  of  pamphlets  and  serial  publications  than  of  books. 

The  "Sunday-School  Repository  or  Teacher's  Magazine"  began  in  1813 
as  a  quarterly  at  a  sixpence;  changed  in  1821  to  the  "Sunday-School 
Teacher's  Magazine"  monthly.  It  was  chiefly  for  teachers,  with  some 
added  matter  for  younger  readers.  W.  F.  Lloyd  was  the  founder,  editor 
and  proprietor  for  several  years.  He  was  the  first  Secretary  of  the  Lon- 
don Sunday-School  Union.  When  he  closed  his  editorial  work,  the  Union 
assumed  the  responsibility  of  continuing  "The  Sunday-School  Teacher's 


480  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

Magazine."  It  was  followed  by  the  "Union  Magazine,"  "The  Sunday- 
School  Teacher,"  and  finally  by  the  "London  Sunday-School  Chronicle," 
which  is  still  issued.     (See  below.) 

The  "Youth's  Magazine,"  a  small  monthly  begun  in  September,  1805, 
was  issued  by  private  publishers  in  London.  It  was  intended  for  the 
higher  classes,  and  attained  a  large  circulation. 

The  London  Sunday-School  Union  approved  the  publication  of  the 
"Penn"  Magazine  for  Children,"  by  William  Gover  in  1820. 

The  Religious  Tract  Society  began  the  "Child's  Companion"  very  soon 
after,  rnd  the  "Penny  Magazine"  was  issued  by  Mr.  Gover  for  only  two 
years.  W.  H.  Watson  reports  that  the  "Youth's  Magazine"  and  the 
"Magazine  for  Children"  were  started  at  the  suggestion  of  the  London 
Sunday-School  Union. 

Confirming  what  is  stated  above  in  regard  to  the  issue  of  periodicals 
instead  of  books  by  the  London  Sunday-School  Union,  at  the  9th  Anni- 
versary of  that  Society  in  May,  1812,  which  was  held  at  the  New  London 
Tavern,  Cheapside,  London  the  only  publications  reported  were  the 
following : 

"Plan  for  the  Establishment  and  Organization  of  Sabbath  Schools," 
one  edition. 

"Introduction  to  Reading,"  part  1,  85.000  copies. 

"Milk  for  Babes,"  38,000  copies. 

"Selected  Portions  of  Scripture,"  designed  as  a  guide  to  teachers  for  a 
course  of  reading  in  Sunday-schools. 

The  "American  Sunday-School  Teachers'  Magazine  and  Journal  of 
Education"  began  in  1823  as  a  quarterly  by  private  publishers  in  New 
York.  It  was  soon  transferred  to  the  American  Sunday-school  Union 
and  continued  as  the  "American  Sunday-School  Magazine"  and  issued 
monthly  under  that  title  until  1831,  when  it  again  became  a  quarterly. 
It  was  succeeded  in  America  by  "The  Sunday-School  Journal  and  Advo- 
cate of  Christian  Education,"  a  weekly  started  in  1831,  in  folio  form,  and 
was  continued  until  1834,  when  it  was  changed  to  a  semi-monthly  and 
later  to  a  monthly  publication.  It  was  the  first  Sunday-school  teacher's 
journal  issued  weekly.  It  was  discontinued  as  a  weekly  for  some  time, 
but  reappeared  again  under  the  title  "The  Sunday-School  Times,"  in 
1859;  was  transferred  to  private  publishers  in  1861,  and  still  continues  to 
be  the  leading  teacher's  journal  in  America. 

The  "Sunday-School  World"  in  1861  succeeded  the  "Sunday-School 
Magazine,"  1823-33,  and  the  "Sunday-School  Journal"  of  1834-4858. 

"The  Church  of  England  Sunday-School  Magazine"  was  issued  quar- 
terly in  1848,  and  later  as  a  monthly,  and  is  continued  to  the  present 
time. 

"The  Sunday-School  Chronicle"  of  London,  1874,  is  the  first  teacher's 
journal  issued  weekly  in  Great  Britain,  Benjamin  Clarke,  editor.     "The 


APPENDIX  481 

London  Sunday-School  Chronicle"  continues  to  be  ably  edited  by  Rev. 
Frank  Johnson.  Each  of  the  larger  denominations  maintaining  a  Sun- 
day-school department  or  board,  issues  a  periodical  for  teachers,  monthly, 
under  the  direction  of  a  strong  editorial  staff.  These  journals  give  special 
attention  to  principles  and  methods  of  instruction,  and  present  series  of 
lessons  with  helps  for  officers  and  teachers. 

We  append  a  list  of  the  more  important  early  juvenile  periodicals  for 
Sunday-schools. 

JUVENILE   PERIODICALS 

1.  "The  Youths'  Magazine;  or,  Evangelical  Miscellany."  Fourpence 
per  number,  monthly;  begun  in  1805,  by  G.  W.  Gurney,  under  the  man- 
agement of  a  committee. 

The  earlier  volumes  were  adapted  to  younger  children,  and  to  less- 
informed  readers,  than  the  later  volumes,  which  were  intended  to  interest 
intelligent  and  well-educated  young  people.  The  early  publishers  were 
Hamilton,  Adams  &  Co.,  London,  England. 

2.  "Youths'  Instructor  and  Guardian."  Fourpence;  issued  by  J. 
Kershaw,  London;  begun  about  1817,  under  the  auspices  of  the  Wesleyans. 

It  was  counted  in  1825  "solid,  serious  and  useful;  the  extracts  being 
selected  with  great  judgment,"  said  a  friendly  critic. 

3.  "The  Juvenile  Friend."  First  issued  as  "The  Family  and  School 
Magazine." 

It  had  what  a  contemporary  critic  calls  "good  wood-cuts."  The  orig- 
inal and  compiled  material  was  not  of  the  best  quality.  This  was  also 
issued  by  a  private  publisher,  Mr.  Souter,  London,  at  fourpence  per 
number. 

4.  "The  Sunday  Scholars'  Magazine;  or,  Monthly  Reward  Book." 
Issued  by  B.  J.  Holdsworth,  Oxford,  12mo  24  pages,  illustrated;  three- 
pence; later  at  twopence  a  number. 

This  was  begun  about  1821,  and  at  first  devoted  entirely  to  the  infants 
in  Sunday-schools.  It  was  edited  with  much  spirit;  but  the  interest  was 
not  sustained  after  four  or  five  years,  so  the  price  was  lowered  to  twopence. 

5.  "The  Child's  Magazine."  Edited  by  Mrs.  Sherwood;  published  by 
Knight  &  Lacey,  London;  one  penny;  was  begun  about  1821;  badly 
printed,  and  poorly  edited  at  first;  changed  to  new  form  January,  1823, 
with  Mrs.  Sherwood  as  editor. 

A  contemporary  or  reviewer  says:  "Mrs.  Sherwood  is  well  known  and 
highly  esteemed  as  an  excellent  writer  for  the  young;  yet,  as  the  editor  of 
a  child's  magazine,  she  does  not  excel"  ;  a  distinction  which  often  appears 
in  modern  juvenile  literature.  Simplicity  and  variety  are  needed  in  a 
periodical. 

6.  "The  Teachers'  Offering;  or,  The  Sunday-School  Monthly  Visitor." 
Rev.  J.  Campbell,  editor.     One  penny;  issued  by  Westley,  London;  be- 


482  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

gun  January  1,  1823,  in  its  present  form,  but  displaced  an  earlier  and 
poorer  magazine. 

This  new  one  needed  great  improvement  in  paper,  print  and  cuts,  in 
the  opinion  of  a  contemporary  reviewer. 

7.  "The  Sunday-Scholars'  Magazine  and  Juvenile  Miscellany."  Two- 
pence; issued  by  T.  Albat,  Hanley,  Staffordshire;  local  in  circulation. 

8.  "The  Religious  Instructor;  or,  Church  of  England  Sunday-School 
Magazine."     Fourpence;  by  Seeley,  London. 

This  was  at  first  designed  partly  for  scholars  and  partly  for  teachers; 
later  it  was  devoted  to  teaching  and  conducting  Sunday-schools.  It  was 
begun  about  1825. 

9.  "Wesleyan  Sunday-School  Magazine."  Issued  at  York,  England, 
from  1824,  at  one  penny;  chiefly  local  in  circulation. 

10.  "The  Children's  Friend."  Rev.  W.  Cams  Wilson,  editor;  issued 
by  Seeley,  London,  at  one  penny. 

Mr.  Wilson  was  also  the  editor  of  a  popular  monthly  for  adults,  "The 
Friendly  Visitor." 

It  was  reported  that  half  a  million  copies  of  these  two  magazines  were 
circulated  in  1824.     The  "cuts"  were  counted  poor. 

11.  "The  Child's  Companion;  or,  Sunday-Scholars'  Reward."  One 
penny;  issued  by  the  Religious  Tract  Society,  London,  and  gained  about 
half  a  million  circulation  in  1824. 

12.  "The  Child's  Magazine  and  Sunday-Scholars'  Companion."  One 
penny;  under  the  Wesleyan  Conference;  printed  by  Kershaw,  London; 
intended  to  do  for  little  children  what  the  "Youths'  Instructor"  (No.  2) 
aimed  to  do  for  youth. 

A  reviewer  counts  it  too  old,  and  lacking  in  childlike  simplicity  of  mat- 
ter and  manner. 

13.  "The  School  Miscellany."  One  penny;  issued  by  Welton,  London; 
begun  March  1,  1824,  and  devoted  to  "moral  rather  than  religious  in- 
struction." 

14.  "National  School  Magazine."  One  penny;  issued  by  the  Riving- 
tons,  London,  semi-monthly;  also  devoted  to  moral  instruction. 

15.  "The  Youth's  Friend,"  formerly  "Teachers'  Offering."  Issued  by 
the  Sunday-School  Union,  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  1823.     24mo,  16  pages. 

16.  "The  Infants'  Magazine."  32mo  12  pages,  illustrated;  issued  by 
the  American  Sunday-School  Union,  1826. 

17.  "Infant  Scholars'  Magazine."  32mo  illustrated,  16  pages, 
monthly;  January  1,  1827;  John  Stephens,  London,  England. 

18.  "Cottage  Magazine."  12mo  36  pages;  January  1,  1812;  Sherwood, 
Neely  &  Co.,  London;  threepence  per  number;  without  illustrations. 

It  was  "for  the  exclusive  use  of  the  lower  orders  of  society." 

19.  "Child's  Magazine."  Issued  by  the  Sunday-School  Union  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  New  York,  1827;  18mo,  16  pages. 


APPENDIX  483 

20.  "Genesee  Sabbath-School  Herald,"  April,  1828;  18mo,  16  pages, 
not  illustrated;  L.  A.  Ward,  Rochester,  N.  Y. 

21.  "Family  Visitor  and  Sunday-School  Magazine."  Issued  by  the 
General  Protestant  Episcopal  Sunday-School  Union,  1829,  at  46  Lumber 
Street,  New  York. 

22.  "Sabbath-School  Reporter."  18mo,  16  pages;  vol.  1;  Windsor,  Vt.; 
date  uncertain. 

23.  "The  American  Sunday-School  Magazine."  12mo,  32  pages;  July, 
1824;  the  American  Sunday-School  Union. 

This  was  for  teachers,  workers  and  adults,  rather  than  for  juveniles. 

24.  "The  Sabbath-School  Visitant,"  1824;  Utica,  New  York. 

25.  "Youth's  Herald,"  1829. 

26.  "Sunday-School  Child's  Repository  in  South  London."  Begun  in 
1815.  In  1820  Gover,  published  a  magazine  of  the  same  name,  but  only 
fourteen  monthly  numbers  were  issued. 

27.  "Child's  Own  Book"  was  begun  as  a  ha'penny  serial  in  1821  and 
1822.  It  was  continued  until  1850;  was  succeeded  then  by  the  "Child's 
Own  Magazine." 

28.  "Bible  Class  Magazine  and  Penny  Magazine  for  Senior  Scholars 
and  Junior  Teachers,"  was  begun  in  1848  and  was  succeeded  by  "The 
Excelsior"  and  then  by  "The  Golden  Rule." 

29.  "Kind  Words  for  Boys  and  Girls"  was  started  by  the  London  Union 
in  1866.  It  was  issued  as  a  monthly  until  1880,  when  it  was  changed  to 
"Young  England."     It  is  still  published. 

30.  "Baptist  Children's  Magazine,"  1827. 

31.  "Children's  Catholic  Magazine,"  1838. 

32.  "Youth's  Penny  Gazette,"  1843. 

33.  "Youth's  Sunday-School  Gazette,"  1859;  Philadelphia. 

Books  in  Foreign  Lands. — Publications  of  the  American  Sunday-School 
Union  in  Foreign  Countries. — In  the  first  twenty  years  of  the  history  of 
the  American  Sunday-School  Union  large  quantities  of  its  literature  were 
called  for  in  foreign  countries.  The  Hon.  C.  E.  Trevelyan  of  Calcutta 
ordered  a  set  of  the  Society's  publications  at  his  own  expense  because  he 
became  so  interested  in  them  from  an  examination  of  the  list.  The  per- 
sons who  received  them  wrote,  "We  have  received  your  magnificent  gift 
of  books  from  America,  which  have  delighted  our  hearts.  They  are  in- 
deed beautiful.  The  maps,  picture  cards,  etc.,  are  far  superior  to  any  we 
have  ever  seen  in  England.  A  physician  in  India,  seeing  this  set  of  pub- 
lications also  ordered  a  supply  for  his  own  family. 

The  Rev.  Dr.  M.  Winslow  of  Madras  of  the  American  mission  there,  in 
an  application  for  publications  said,  "The  American  Mission  at  Madras, 
has  not  only  the  means  of  lending  but  of  distributing  gratuitously  a  great 
part  of  the  books.     They  would  be  particularly  useful  in  the  schools. 


484  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

They  would  be  sought  after  and  read  with  great  avidity  by  many  who 
would  not  read  any  religious  work  in  their  own  language." 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Dwight  of  Constantinople  wrote,  "We  can  employ  to 
great  advantage  sets  of  all  your  books  adapted  to  children  from  eight  to 
ten  years  of  age:  Dictionaries  of  the  Bible,  Bible  natural  history,  Union 
Questions,  Bible  Geography,  Maps,  Cards  and  lessons  on  cards,  or  card 
pictures  without  the  lessons.  Particularly  Scripture  illustrations  to 
almost  any  extent  can  be  used  by  us,  putting  the  lesson  in  whatever  lan- 
guage we  need.  Many  of  the  cuts  in  your  books  would  answer  well  in 
our  translations." 

Rev.  W.  H.  Pearce  of  Calcutta  said,  "I  look  with  great  interest  to  the 
translations  of  your  books  into  the  native  languages.  The  salt  which 
such  books  as  these  diffuse  among  the  mass  is  what  under  God's  blessing 
will  prevent  its  moral  putrefaction." 

Another  missionary  of  the  Church  of  England  was  then  translating  the 
"Life  of  Daniel,"  issued  by  the  Union,  and  still  another  was  translating 
into  Bengali  the  "Church  History"  issued  by  the  Union.  The  Mission 
in  Benares  was  using  the  "Life  of  Henry  Martin,"  "The  Life,  of  Daniel," 
"The  Life  of  Elijah"  and  the  "History  of  the  Orissa  Mission"  issued  by 
the  Union  and  were  also  translating  them  into  Hindustanee. 

The  Rev.  S.  Wells  Williams  of  China,  applying  for  books  of  the  Society 
said  "I  do  not  think  of  any  more  profitable  present  that  could  be  made  to 
the  Library  of  a  Missionary  than  these  volumes,"  referring  to  the  works 
issued  by  the  American  Sunday-School  Union.  He  adds,  "Some  of  the 
books  on  Natural  History  appear  to  be  adapted  to  the  knowledge  of  those 
subjects  which  the  Chinese  have  already  attained  to,  and  would  lead  them 
on  in  the  road  of  admiring  and  studying  nature's  works  and  nature's  God." 

The  Rev.  J.  R.  Campbell  of  Northern  India  applied  for  books  for  several 
English  schools  established  in  India.  "I  know  you  will  not  permit  them 
to  be  raised  up  with  mere  scientific  knowledge  to  become  infidels,  while 
you  have  it  in  your  power  to  afford  them  Bible  truth  in  the  most  simple 
and  attractive  form  and  exactly  adapted  to  their  capacities." 

"The  Life  of  Washington"  published  by  the  Union  was  translated  into 
upward  of  twenty  languages,  and  many  other  of  its  publications  were 
issued  in  foreign  lands  as  well  as  our  own,  from  the  "icy  mountains  of 
Greenland  to  the  coral  strand  of  India." 


INDEX 


Adams,    John    ("Father")    (1772-1863), 
sketch  of  life  and  work  of,  212 
Stephen  Paxson  and,  272 
work  as  an  educator,  235 
Adams,  William,  214 
Addison,  loo 

Africa,  Sunday-schools  in,  34,  35 
Aids,  Lesson,  see  Lesson  aids. 
Alden,  Timothy,  69,  190,  219 
Alexander,  Archibald  (1772-1851),  Ameri- 
can Sunday-School  Union  defended 
by,  134 
author  of   "Vindication   of  Sunday- 
Schools,"  143 
graded  instruction  for  Sunday-schools, 

123 
helped  form  Evangelical   Society  of 

Philadelphia,  51 
treatise    on    vindication    of    Sunday- 
schools  by,  122 
sketch  of  life  and  work,  122 
Alexander,  James  Waddell  (1804-59),  353 
sketch  of  life  and  work,  135 
testimony  for  memorizing  Scripture, 
59 
Alexander,  Joseph  Addison,  author,  135 
Allibone,    Samuel   Austin    (1816-89),    97, 
166 
sketch  of  life  and  work,  181 
America,  attitude  toward  education,  41 
attitude     toward     modern     Sunday- 
school  in,  43 
condition  of,  in  eighteenth  century,  41 
early  Sunday-schools  in,  43,  52 
first  attempts  to  introduce  Bible  study 

in,  42 
housing  of  Sunday-schools  in,  282 
need  of  Sunday-schools  in,  44 
objection  to  Sunday-schools,  in  19,  20, 

41,48 
toleration  and  education  in,  40 
voluntary,     mutual    and    monitorial 

system  in,  48,  49 
work   of    Robert    May    for    Sunday- 
schools  in,  52.     See  also  South  and 
Central  America  and  United  States. 
Rural,  influences  against  religious  prog- 
ress in,  403 
religious  condition  of,  388,  402 
American    attitude    toward    the    modern 

Sunday-school,  40 
American  Bible  Society.  See  Bible  Society, 

American. 
American     Christian    Commission.       See 

Christian  Commission,  American. 
American  Church  Sunday-school  Institute, 
1875;  385,  62 


American  Education  Society,  212 
American  missionary  work  for  the  modern 

Sunday-school,  39 
American  Revision  Committee,  170 
American  Sunday-School  Magazine,  1823; 

91,  94,  110,  158,  370 
American    Sunday-School    Union    (1817- 

1917),  administrative  methods,  81, 

236,  260 
affiliation  of  First  Day  Society  with, 

48 
aims  of,  79,  84,  90,  188,  206,  261,  389 
approves  Uniform  Lesson  System,  300 
as  educator,  232 
basis  of,  80,  454,  456 
bequests,   legacies  and  gifts  left  to, 

260,  261,  323,  326-331,  343,  347,  393 
Bible  study  promoted  in  Europe  by, 

32 
"Book  Fund,"  325 
brief  history  of,  452-455 
causes  of  indebtedness,  327 
centennial  year,  1917;  174 
changes  in  editorial  force,  1915;  173 
charter  finally  granted  to,   130,  132, 

481 
children's  work  of,  214 
Church  and  Sunday-school,  relations 

urged  by,  89 
churches      following      Sunday-school 

work  of,  474 
churches  not  formed  by,  232 
Civil   War's    effect    upon,   241,    251, 

325 
claims  by  various  denominations  of 

establishing,  132 
collection  agencies  abandoned  by,  246 
condition  in  1900;  329 
defended  by  Willard  Hall,  etc.,  124, 

134 
defrauded  of  funds,  244-246 
"Diamond  Anniversary,"  396 
educational  aims  of,  86,  90-92 
evangelistic  work  of.  263 
family  instruction  aided,  89 
financial  historv  of,  194,  195,  240-246, 

256,   260,   318,  320,  322,  392,  393 
housing  of,  285 
"Interdenominational,"  84 
jubilee  of,  257 
limited  lesson  System  introduced  by, 

103,  106,  107 
list  of  Green  Fund  Books,  479 
list  of  Sunday-schools  and  Societies 

connected    with    the    Sunday    and 

Adult  School  Union  who  assented 

to  changing  name  to,  447-451 

485 


486 


INDEX 


American   Sunday-School    Union    (1817- 

1917),      National      Sunday-School 

Convention  proposed  by,  353-355, 

468 
needs  of,  334 
"No  Debt"  policy  of,  241,  248,  261, 

263 
office  of  Normal  Secretary  created  by, 

372 
office  of  Secretary  of  Missions  created 

by,  243 
opposition  to,  120,  124,  129,  130,  133, 

194,  232,  276 
organization  of,  1824;  79,  94 
reasons  why  Philadelphia  became  seat 

of,  79 
records  of  Mr.  May's  modern  Sunday- 
school  in  archives  of,  52 
relation  of  early  history  of  Sunday- 
school  to,  78 
relation  to  public  schools  of,  86 
results  of  work  of,  120,  146,  207,  399 
rules    applicable    to    members    and 

managers,  81 
scope  and  field,  85 
statistics  of,  419 
Sunday    and    Adult    School     Union 

changed  to,  1824,  59,  392,  447 
Sunday-school  libraries  and,  233 
Sunday-schools  in  Europe  started  by, 

254 
systematic  survey  introduced,  87 
systematic  survey  after  the  Civil  War, 

261 
systematic  survey  by  sections,  219,  401 
teacher- training   and   the,    114,    253, 

371,  461 
tribute  to  work  of,  262 
world  Sunday-school  union  urged  by, 

92,  367 
"Wurts  Fund,"  326 
Editorial  officers: 

Allibone,      Samuel      Austin,      editor 

(1868-79),  166,  181 
Hart,  John  Seely,  editor  of  periodicals 

(1858-60),  151,  165,  179,  304,  371, 

372 
McConaughy,   James,   elected  editor 

of  publications,  1915,  173 
Newton,  Richard,  editor  of  periodicals 

(1867-77),  155,  166,  168,  180,  299, 

300,  301,  305,  385 
Packard,  Frederick  Adolphus,  editor 

of  periodicals,   1861;  98,  139,  158, 

166,  174,  344,  352,  372 
Rice,  Edwin  Wilbur,   168,  170,  171, 

173,  241,  244,  256,  257,  260,  297, 

300-302,  326-328,  372 
Schumaker,  A.  J.  R.,  assistant  editor, 

1915;  173 
Williams,      Moscley     H.,      honorary 

assistant  editor,  1915;  169,  172,  173 


American  Sunday-School    Union    (1817- 

1917).    Executive  officers: 
Andrews,  Jefferson  M.,  244 
Ashhurst,  Lewis  R.,  322,  327,  343,  348 
Ashhurst,  Richard,  241 
Ashhurst,  Samuel,  242,  348 
Baird,  Robert,  222 
Brown,  Alexander,  261,  328,  347 
Brown,  John  A.,  216,  326 
Converse,  John  H.,  349 
Cooke,  Jay,  339 
Corey,  A.  W.,  210,  211,  222,  235,  267, 

333 
Crowell,  James  M.,  241,  244,  260,  327, 

435 
Dulles,  John  W.,  187,  243,  383 
Dulles,  Joseph  H.,  94,  98,  177 
Ensign,  F.  G.,  257,  279,  333 
Frelinghuysen,  Th.,  125,  134,  199,  357 
Hall,  John,  113,  126,  238,  243,  267 
Hall,  John  (N.  Y.),  181,  168,  301,  302, 

305 
Hall,  Hon.  Willard,  124,  134 
Henry,  Alexander,  95,  97,  177,  383 
Hirst,  William  H.,  6      '• 
Jesup,  M.  K,  434 

Kennedy,  Robert  Lenox,  136,  261,  342 
Key,  Francis  Scott,  99,  100,  198 
Knowles,  Levi,  345 
Martin,  Abraham,  136,  343 
McLean,  Hon.  John,  214 
Pardee,  R.  G.,  184,  259,  297,  304,  371, 

372 
Paxson,  Stephen,  213,  235,  236,  257, 

259,  269,  271,  297,  341,  478, 
Paxson,  William  P.,  274 
Pollock,  James,  177 
Porter,  Frederick  W.,  91,  98,  99,  158 
Rice,  Edwin  Wilbur,   168,   170,   171, 

173,  241,  244,  256,  257,  260,  297, 

300-302,  326-328,  372 
Robins,  Samuel  J.,  95 
Scofield,  George  Starr,  186 
Strong,  Hon.  William,  346 
Stuart,  George  Hay,  340 
Trumbull,  Henry  Clay,  166,  168,  179, 

182,  258,  297,  298,  300,  301,  371, 

372,  400 
Williams,  George  P.,  244,  476 
Wurts,  Maurice  Alexander,  241,  244, 

257,  260,  275,  327 
Missionary  and  extension  work: 
aim  of,  90,  188 

by  periods  (twenty  years  each),  230 
churches  founded  following,  330 
conferences,  193,  294 
division  of  country  for,  219 
general  agents,  192 
house  to  house  visitation,  265 
laymen  recognized,  188 
laymen's  mission,  200 
mission  plans  and  results,  200 


INDEX 


487 


American  Sunday-School  Union  (1817- 
1917).  Missionary  and  extension 
work: 

Mississippi  Valley  Enterprise,  195, 
196,  220,  223,  228,  230,  329,  352 

national  meeting,  198 

public  meetings,  193 

results  computed  for,  1824-74;  257 

Southern  Enterprise,  202 

specialized  service,  190 

students  as  missionaries,  223 

voluntary  effort  insufficient,  192 

women's  auxiliary,  207 

work  by  auxiliaries,  189 

world-wide  call  for  work,  205 
Publications: 

"American  Series,"  301 

American  Sunday-School  Magazine, 
91 

American  Sunday-School  Union  Quar- 
terly (1880),  171 

Anniversary  Hymns,  464 

Bible  Dictionary,  111,  123 

Child's  World,  164,  167 

engravings  used  in  juvenile,  145 

Evangelical,  391 

Five  Year  Cycle  of  Selected  Scripture 
Lessons,  with  Judson's  Questions 
for  the  Second  Annual  Course  of 
Instruction  issued  in  1827  by,  113 

hymnals  issued  by,  156 

Illustrated  Treasury  of  Knowledge, 
1882;  172 

Infants'  Magazine,  1829;  160 

Judson's  Questions,  107,  109 

Junior  Quarterly  begun,  1917;  174 

Juvenile  hymnology,  147,  151 

Lesson  papers;  primary,  intermediate, 
advanced,  170,  171 

Lesson  System  for  one  year,  in  card 
form,  1825;  105 

Literature,  character  demanded  by, 
142-145 

Little  People's  Lesson  Pictures,  174 

Musical  instruction  system,  issued  by, 
152 

People's  Paper,  1888,  Illustrated 
Treasury  of  Knowledge  and  Truth 
in  Life  merged  in  the,  172 

Picture  World  (successor  to  Child's 
World),  172,  174 

policy  in  regard  to,  389 

Primary  Quarterly,  172 

Review  Wall  Chart,  171 

revision  of,  463 

Quarterly  Review  Paper,  171 

Scholars'  Companion  (1878-79),  171 

Scholars'  Handbook  (1874-89),  171 

Select  Questions,  issued  in  1828  by, 
113 

Sunday  Hour,  1883;  172 

Sunday-School  at  Home,  1915;  73,  74 


American   Sunday-School    Union    (1817- 
1917).    Publications: 
Sunday-School  Banner,  1859;  164,  167 
Sunday-School  Gazette,   164 
Sunday-School  Journal  and  Advocate 
of  Christian  Education  issued  by, 
160,  167 
succeeded   by   Sunday-School   Times 
in  1859  and  later  by  Sunday-School 
World,  162 
Sunday-School  Magazine,  98 
Sunday-School  Repository  purchased 

by,  91 
Sunday-School  Times,  1859;  165,  179, 

183,  248,  323,  324 
Sunday-School  World,  1861;  166-168 
Superintendents'  Review  Paper,  171 
Teachers'  Offering   (continued  under 
the  title  of  the  Youth's  Friend  and 
Scholars'     Magazine),     163;     pur- 
chased by,  91,  160,  163 
Truth  in  Life,  1882;  172 
Union  Primer,  94 
variety  and  quantity  of  publications 

of,  159 
Young  People's  Paper,  1891;  173,  174 
Youth's  Friend,  160 
Youth's  Penny  Gazette,    1842;    164, 

167 
Youth's      Sunday-School       Gazette, 

167 
Youth's  World  (successor  of  Child's 
World),  172 
American  Temperance  Society,  212 
American  Tract  Society,  212 
Andrews,  Jefferson  M.,  secretary  of  mis- 
sions     for     American      Sunday-School 
Union,  244 
Andrews,  Sarah,  Lowry  bequest  partly  due 

to,  393 
Anglican  catechism,  73 
Angus,  Joseph,  381 
Asia,  Sunday-schools  in,  34 
Association  of  Philadelphia,  see  Philadel- 
phia, Association  of. 
Australian  Sunday-School  Union,  34 
Austria,  Modern  Sunday-school  in,  34 

Babel  Series  or  Independent  Lessons,  122, 

295,  296 
Bacon,  Samuel,  189 
Bailey,  G.  W.,  337 
Baird,  Robert,  219,  228,  352 

engaged  to  solicit  funds  for  the  Union, 

320 
field  secretary  for  the  Union,  222 
Baker,  Isaac  Newton,  assistant  editor  of 

the  Sunday-School  Times,  165 
Baldwin,    Lewis,     Biblical    Interrogatory 

prepared  by,  102 
Bancroft,  E.  P., 
Bankson,  J.  P.,  61,  63,  69 


INDEX 


Baptist   group    of    churches,    number   in 

America,  380 
Baptist  publications,  see  Denominational 

publications. 
Baptist  Tract  Society,  followed  by  Ameri- 
can Baptist  Publication  Society,  380 
Baptists,  Sunday-school  work  of,  380 
Barbauld,  Mrs.,   contributor   to   juvenile 

literature,  140 
Barnard,    Henry,    "Teachers'    Institutes" 

by,  297,  370 
Barnes  Notes,  115 
Bayard,  James,  344 
Bedell,  Gregory  T.,  352,  385 
Beecher,  Henry  Ward,  467 
Beecher,  Lyman,  134,  196,  198,  233,  352, 

353 
Bell,  Andrew,  monitorial  and  mutual  sys- 
tems of  Lancaster  and,  24,  25,  117 
voluntary,    mutual,    and    monitorial 
system  of,  49 
Bell,  E.  K.,  412 

Berean  series  of  lessons  by  John  H.  Vin- 
cent, 122,  300 
Bethany       Presbyterian       Sunday-school 

founded  by  John  Wanamaker,  383 
Bethlehem,  Conn.,  Historical   claims   of, 

143 
Bethune,    Mr.   and    Mrs.   Divie,   modern 
Sunday-school  movement  and,  53,  56, 
57,,  61,  445 
Bible,  critical  attitude  toward  the,  259 
memorizing  of,  101 
opposition  to  study  of,  35 
Raikes'  center  of  instruction  the,  16, 

18 
Roman  Catholic  opposition  to  study 

of,  32 
supply,  264 

"verse-a-day"  plan  and  the,  119 
Bible  dictionaries,  111 
Bible  dictionary  by  Alexander,    135;  by 

Packard,  177 
Bible  doctrines,  120 
Bible  geography,   111.     See  also  Biblical 

geography. 
Bible  history,  111 
"Bible  House,"  Astor  Place,  New  York, 

293 
Bible  instruction,  interest  aroused  in,  160 
Bible  lessons,  uniform  limited,  101,  102 
Bible  Reading  Association,  381 
Bible  schools,  great  need  of,  264 
on  the  Pacific  coast,  418 
Union,  398,  399 
women's  work  in,  209 
Bible  societies,  beginning  of,  188 
Bible    Society,    American,    and   American 
Sunday-School  Union,  189 
Housing  of,  293 
Bible  Society  of  Pennsylvania,  see  Penn- 
sylvania Bible  Society. 


Bible  study  in  America,  42;  in  Europe,  32; 
in  Germany,  32;  in  India,  34;  in 
the  United  States,  50 . 
uniform  system  of,  1872;  260. 
Biblical  Antiquities  by  John  W.  Nevin, 

135 
Biblical  Geography  by  J.  W.  Alexander, 

135 
Biblical  Interrogatory  by  Lewis  Baldwin, 

102 
Birmingham      Sunday-School     Teachers' 

College,  26 
Bishop,  George  S.,  tribute  to  William  P. 

Paxson  by,  274 
Blackall,  C.  R.,  296,  380 
Blair,  Wm.   C,   first  Sunday-school  mis- 
sionary, 1821;  68,  190,  219 
"Blind  Allick"  (Alexander  Lyons),  101 
Bliss,  F.  J.,  170 
Bliss,  P.  P.,  155 
Board  of  Publication  (Dutch  Reformed), 

1863;  386 
Boardman,  Henry  A.,  275 
Boardman,  Wm.  E.,  243 
Bonar,  writer  of  modern  hymns,  155 
"Book  Fund"  of  the  American  Sunday- 
School  Union,  325 
Borromeo,    Cardinal,    Sunday-school    of, 

38 
Bradshaw,  W.  W.,   1,077  Sunday-schools 

founded  by,  477 
Bright,  John,  the  Great  Commoner  and  the 

Sunday-school,  38 
Brinsmade,    James    B.,     secretary    First 

National     Sunday-school     Convention, 

357 
British  and  Foreign  School  Society,  1808; 

24 
British   Standard    Graded    Lessons,    314, 

348 
Brown,  Alexander  (1815-93),  261 

sketch  of  life  and  work  of,  328 
Brown,  Frank  L.,  367 
Brown,  John  A.  (1788-1872),  326 

sketch  of  life  and  work  of,  216 
Bullard,  Asa,  381 
Bunyan,  John,  140 
Bushnell,  Horace,  183 

California,  educational  condition  in,  418 
natural  resources  of,  417 
University  of,  418 

Carey,  Matthew,  pupil  of  First  Day  So- 
ciety, 46 

Carter,  Robert,  269 

Carver,  Warner  L.,  421 

Catechetical  lessons,  use  in  Sunday-school, 
77 

Catechisms,  73 

Cathcart,  Robert,  194,  352 

Catholic,  see  Roman  Catholic. 

Central  America,  Sunday-schools  in,  35 


INDEX 


489 


Central  Northwest,  immense  extent  of,  407 

religious  conditions  in,  406 
Chalmers,    Thomas,    defense   of    Sunday- 
schools  by,  129 
John   McCullagh,   pupil  in   Sunday- 
school  of,  269 
"Chap"  books  and  "Horn"  books,  463 
Chapin,  A.  L.,  305 
Chappell,  E.  B.,  380 
Charter,  remonstrance  against  American 

Sunday-School  Union,  130 
Chautauqua,  brief  sketch  of,  374 

movement  started  by  J.  H.  Vincent 

and  Lewis  Miller,  1S74;  373 
present  status  of,  373 
Sunday-school    Assembly    instituted, 
373 
Cheeseman,   Maria,   Story  of  the  Candy 

Girl,  226 
Cheney,  W.  J.,  322 
Chicago  Conference,  253 
Chidlaw,    Benjamin   Williams    (1811-92), 
226,  235,  250,  257-259,  333,  341 
sketch  of  life  and  work  of,  266 
Sunday-school     Institute    movement 

and,  297 
Sunday-school  missionary,  126,  266 
Children's  literature,  see  Juvenile  Litera- 
ture. 
"Children's  minister,  The,"  184 
Christian  Commission,  American,  268,  279, 

340 
Christian  unity,  necessity  for,  428 
Church,   American  Sunday-School  TTnion 
urges  union  of  Sunday-school  and, 
89 
growth  following  Sunday-schools,  265 
Sunday-school,  pioneer  of,  247 
unfriendly     toward,     early    Sunday- 
school,  281 
Church  of  England  Sunday-School  Insti- 
tute, 1843;  29 
Church  schools,  53 

Churches,  American  Sunday-School  Union 
and,  232,  261,  330,  474 
neglect  of,  405 
Civil  War.  effect  on  the  Sunday-school, 
241,  365 
effect  on  work  of  Amercan  Sunday- 
School  Union,  248,  325 
illiteracy  after,  261 
systematic  survey  after,  261 
work     of     American     Sunday-School 
Union  after,  252 
Clark,  Willis  Gaylord,  152 
"Coast    Island    Mission,"    by    American 

Sunday-School  Union,  262 
Cofnng,  Jackson  G.,  student  missionary, 

experience  of,  225 
Colfax,  Schuyler,  268 

Collecting  agencies  abandoned  by  Ameri- 
can Sunday-School  Union,  246 


Collective  System  of  Sunday-School 
Lessons  by  London  Sunday-School 
Union,  295 

Commentaries,  Lesson,  see  Lesson  com- 
mentaries. 

Congregational  Board  of  Publication, 
1854,  formed  by  merging  Doctrinal 
Tract  Society  and  Evangelical  Society, 
381 

Congregational  publications,  see  Denom- 
inational publications. 

Congregationalists,  Sunday-school  work 
of,  381 

Conventions,  ancient,  351 

Converse,  John  H.  (1894-1910),  sketch  of 
life  and  work  of,  349 

Cook,  J.  Paul,  French  Sunday-School 
Society  and,  33 

Cooke,  Jay  (1821-1905),  sketch  of  life  and 
work  of,  339 

Cope,  Thomas  P.,  pupil  of  First  Day 
Society,  46 

Corey,  A.  W.,  210,  235,  267,  333 

records  of  Sunday-school  missionary 
work  kept  by,  222 

Cotton,  John,  42,  73 

Crane,  Elias  W.  194 

Craven,  E.  R.,  383 

Crosby,  Fanny,  155 

Crowell,  James  M.  (1827-1908),  242,  260, 
327 
Executive    Committee    of    American 

Sunday-School  Union,  241 
secretary     of     missions,      American 

Sunday-School  Union,  244 
sketch  of  life  and  work,  435 

Cunnyngham,  W.  G.  E.,  379 

Currie,  William,  pupil  of  First-Day  So- 
ciety, 46 

Cuyler,  Theo.  L.,  quoted,  407 

David,  Louisa  M.,  25 

Davis,  Ozora,  173 

Delaware  State  Sunday-schools,  46 

Denmark  and  Norway,  modern  Sunday- 
school  stimulated  in,  34 

Denominational  Council  for  Sunday- 
school  work  formed,  1910;  386 

Denominational  publications,  291,  202 

Denominational  Sunday-school  organiza- 
tions, housing  of,  290 

Denominational  Sunday-school  unions, 
movement  for  organization  of,  133 

Dictionaries,  Bible,  see  Bible  dictionaries. 

Dictionary  of  Authors,  by  S.  A.  Allibone, 
181 

Dimmock,  T.  W.,  1,161  Sunday-schools 
by,  477 

Discipline  in  Raikes'  schools,  439 

Donne.  G.  W.,  385 

Doddridgo,  Philip,  155 

Dodge,  Hon.  Wm.  E.,  258,  397 


490 


INDEX 


Duhring,  H.  L.f  385 

Dunning,  A.  E.,  381 

Dulles,  John  Welsh,  243,  383 
sketch  of  work  of,  187_ 

Dulles,  Joseph  H.  (1795^1876),  editor  and 
compiler  of  Union  Primer,  94 
sketch  of  life  and  work  of,  98 
tribute  to  F.  A.  Packard,  17?'  * 

Dutch  Reformed  Church,  headquarters  of, 
292 

Dwight,  Timothy,  41 

Dykes,  Oswald,  384 

Eastern   Central   States,    religious   condi- 
tions in,  422 
Eastern  Middle  Section,  religious  condi- 
tions in,  405 
Ecclesiastical  history,  111 
Eclectic  Institute,  Henderson,  Kentucky, 

269 
Edgeworth,  Maria,  142 
Eidtorial  Sunday-School  Association  super- 
seded by  Sunday-School  Council,  308 
Education,      early      American      attitude 
toward,  41 
relation  of  Sunday-school  to  public, 

115 
work     of     American     Sunday-School 
Union  for,  232 
Educational  theories,  1820;  101 
Edwards,  Jonathan,  188 
Eggleston,  Edward,  297-299,  371 
Ehrenborg,  Lady,  33 
Emerson,  Joseph,  Evangelical  Primer  of, 

73 
Emory,      Issac,      1,010      Sunday-schools 

founded  by,  477 
"Enabling  Act,"  1779;  16 
England,  objection  to  Sunday-schools  in, 
19,  20 
Presbyterian  Church  in,  384 
18th  Century,  educational  laws  in,  16 
number  of  schools  in,  12 
rural  population  in,  13 
Rural,   18th  century,   12 
condition  of  society,  11-13 
diet.  12 

education  in,  13 
housing  conditions  in,  11 
illiteracy  in,  12 

"Mam"  and  "Gaffar"  schools  in,  12 
school  teachers  in,  12 
status  of  women  in,  12 
English  vs.  American  books  for  children, 

463 
Ensign,  F.  G.  (1837-1906),  257,  333 

sketch  of  life  and  work,  279 
Ephrata,  Pa.,  Historical  claims  of,  43 
Eudaly,  W.  A.,  337 
Europe,   Continental,   Sunday-schoolB  in, 

32,  254 
European  war,  effect  on  Sunday-schools,  39 


Evangelical  Alliance,  80 

Evangelical  Association,  housing  of,  291 

Evangelical  literature,  391 

Evangelical  Primer  of  Joseph  Emerson,  73 

Evangelical   Society   in  Philadelphia,  see 

Philadelphia  Evangelical  Society. 
Evangelical  Witness,  edited  by  John  Hall, 

N.  Y.,  181 
Evangelism,  Sunday-school,  263 
Evangelistic  work  of  Robert  May,  444 
Explanatory  series  of  lessons  by  Allibone 

and  Newton,  122,  300 

Fairbanks,  Henry  T.,  quoted,  403 
Falconer,  Capt.,  pupil  of    First-Day  So- 
ciety, 46 
Family     worship,     testimony     of     John 

McLean  for,  214 
Faris,  John  T.,  383 
Farwell,   J.   V.,   Sunday-School   Institute 

movement  and,  297 
Federal  Council  of  the  Churches  of  Christ 

in  America,  work  of,  387 
Female  Union  Society  for  the  Promotion 
of   Sabbath-Schools,    1816,    57-59, 
446  • 

history  of,  57 
Fergusson,  E.  Morris,  374,  383 
Ferris,  Chancellor  Isaac,  111 
Ferris,  John  O.,  424 
Fiction  or  no?  144 
Fiji  Islands,  Sunday-schools  in,  35 
Finances,  195 
Finney,  Chas.  G.,  183 
First  Day  Society,  affiliation  with  Amer- 
ican Sunday-School  Union,  48 
Bishop  White,  first  president  of,  45, 

384 
difference  in  faith  of  members  of,  47 
famous    men    who,    as    children,    at- 
tended, 46 
influence    in    promoting    public    free 

schools  for  the  state,  45 
oldest  existing  Sunday-school  society 

in  the  world,  48 
organization  of,  48 
Peter   Thompson,    first   secretary  of, 

46 
rules  of  the,  46 
Sunday-school  library  originated  by, 

47 
work  of,  44 
Fisk,    Harvey,    Questions    on    the    Select 

Scripture  Lessons  by,  108,  109 
Fiske,  Ezra,  352,  353 
Fitch,  Joshua  G.,  25 
Foster,  Addison  P.,  170,  402,  404 
Foster,  John,  24 
Fox,  William,  21,  440 
France,  modern  Sunday-school,  33,  38 
Franklin,      Benjamin,      free      circulating 
library  plan  originated  by,  146 


INDEX 


491 


Frazer,  R.  D.,  384 

Frelinghuysen,      Theodore      (1782-1862), 
American     Sunday-School     Union 
defended  by,  134 
interest  in  Mississippi  Valley  Enter- 
prise, 199 
president  of  First  National  Sunday- 
School  Convention,  357 
sketch  of  life  and  work  of,  125 
French  Sunday-School  Society,  1857;  33 
Friends,  attitude  toward  Sunday-school,  62 
Froebel,  Friedrich  W.,  25,  116 
Fruitful  Life,  A,  by  Belle  Paxson,  274 

Gall,  James,  lesson  system  of,  25,  110,  118, 

294,  295,  465-467 
Gallaudet,    T.    EL,    interest    in    juvenile 

literature,  139 
Garrigues,    J.    C.,    Sunday-School    Times 

sold  to,  179 
Gartley's  Schoolroom,  285 
General    Board    of    Religious    Education, 

1910;  385 
Geography,  Bible;  see  Bible  Geography. 
German  Reformed  Church  in  the  United 

States,  headquarters  of,  292 
Germany,  Bible  study  in,  32 
.  illiteracy  in,  32 

introduction  of  modern  Sunday-school 
in,  33,  38 
Gibson,  Monor  J.,  305,  384 
Gilbert,  Simeon,  297 
Gillett,  Philip  G.,  271,  305 
Goldsmith,  Oliver,  contributions  to  juve- 
nile literature,  139 
Goodrich,  Chauncey,  204 
Graded  helps  for  uniform  Sunday-school 

lessons,  301 
Graded  infant  Sunday-schools,  see  Sunday- 
school,  Graded  Infant. 
Graded  International  Sunday-School  Les- 
sons, 431 
Graded  Lesson  Systems,  310 
Graded  Lessons,  British  Standard,  384 
Graded  Series  of  Sunday-School  Lessons 
issued  by  General  Board  of  Religious 
Education,  385 
Graded  Sunday-school,  see  Sunday-school, 

Graded. 
Graham,  Mrs.  Isabella,  53-56 
Great     Britain,     Baptist     Sunday-school 
membership  in,  381 
early  methods  of  instruction  in,  35 
expansion  of  modern  Sunday-school 

in,  37 
housing  of  Sunday-school  in,  281 
Judson's  Questions  used  in,  36 
theory  of  education  in,  37 
voluntary,    mutual,    and    monitorial 
system  popularized  in,  49 
Greek  Church,  Sunday-schools  in  countries 
under,  34 


Greek  New  Testament  classes,  25 

Green  Fund  Books,  list  of,  479 

Green,  John  C,  Fund,  260,  327,  328,  343 

Greening,  Mrs.,  43 

Greenway  Mission,  275 

Grimke,  Thomas  S.,  200 

Groser,  W.  H.,  18,  315 

Gurney,  William  Brodie,  22,  27,  162 

Hall,    John,    New   York    (1829-98),    168, 
301,  302,  305 
sketch  of  life  and  work,  181 
Hall,  John,  Trenton,  113,  243,  267 

recording  secretary  of  the  Executive 
Committee   of   American   Sunday- 
School  Union,  238 
sketch  of  life  and  work  of,  126 
Hall,  Willard  (1827-75),  American  Sunday- 
School  Union  defended  by,  134 
sketch  of  life  and  work,  124 
Halsey,  A.  P.,  on  select  uniform  lessons, 

112 
Hart,  John  Seely  (1810-77),  371 

advocate  of  primary  class  system,  304 
description  of  early  hymn  singing  by, 

151 
editor  of  Sunday-School  Times,  165 
sketch  of  life  and  work  of,  179 
Hastings,    Thomas,    juvenile   hymns   and 

songs  by,  149,  150,  152 
Haven,  Henry  P.,  305 
Haven,  Jr.,  Henry  De,  63 
Hawley,  "Father"  David,  183 
Hawes,  Joel,  183 
Haygood,  A.  G.,  379 
Hazard,  M.  C,  382 

Headquarters  of  denominational  Sunday- 
school     organizations,        See     Denom- 
inational  Sunday-school   organizations, 
housing  of. 
Heidelberg  catechism,  73 
Heinz,  H.  J.,  337 
Henderson,  George  J.,  333 
Henderson,  James,  61 
Henry,  Alexander  (1766-1847),  177,  383 

sketch  of  life  and  work  of,  95-97 
Heroes  of  the  Early  Church,  by  Richard 

Newton,  180 
Heroes  of  the  Reformation,  by  Richard 

Newton,  ISO 
Hibernian  Society  of  London,  1806;  28 
Hibernian  Sunday-School  Society  of  Ire- 
land, 1809;  28 
Hill,  Roland,  147 
Hill,  Rowland,  147,  148 
Hillis,  W.  A.,  333 
History,  Bible,  see  Bible  History. 
History,  Ecclesiastical,  see  Ecclesiastical 

History. 
Holland    Memorial   Presbyterian   Church 
(Moyamensing    Mission),    by    M.    A. 
Wurts,  275 


492 


INDEX 


Home  department  established  in  connec- 
tion with  Sunday-schools,  110 
"Horn"  books  and  "Chap"  books,  463 
Huber,  J.  H.,  269 
Humphrey,  president,  139 
Hurlbut,  J.  L.,  379 
Hydrocephalus   produced    by   too    much 

memorizing,  59,  77 
Hymn,  definition  of  a,  157 
Hymn  singing,  early,  description  by  Prof. 

Hart,  151 
Hymnology,  beginnings  of,  149 
juvenile,  ideal,  157 
work    of     American     Sunday-School 

Union  for,  147,  151 
see  also  Sunday-school  Hymnology. 
Hymns  and  songs,  juvenile,  see  Juvenile 

Hymns  and  Songs. 
Hymns,  authors  and  composers  of  early, 
151 
evangelistic,  recognition  of  need  for, 

153 
importance  of,  151 

Illinois  State  Temperance  Society,  211 
Illiteracy  after  the  Civil  War,  261 
in  Germany,  32 

in  rural  England  in  18th  century,  12 
in  the  United  States,  234 
Immigrants,    two    types    in    the    United 

States,  396 
Immigration  problem  in  the  United  States, 

400 
India,  Bible  study  in,  35 

Sunday-School  Union,  34,  35 
Indians,  early  Sunday-school  work  among 

the,  68 
Individualism     in     early     Sunday-school 

movement,  104 
Inductive  theory  of  teaching,  116 
"In   God  We   Trust"   placed   on   United 

States  coins,  178 
Institute,  differences  in  interpretation  of 

term,  371 
Institutes  for  public   and   Sunday-school 

teachers,  370 
Instruction,   family,    aided   by   American 
Sunday-School  Union,  89 
Sunday-school,  see  Sunday-school  In- 
struction. 
International,  application  of  the  term,  313 
Bible  Readers'  Association,  26 
Lesson  Committee,  British  and  Ameri- 
can sections  abandon  joint  work,  313 
Lessons,  history  of,  26,  30,  169 
Sunday-School  Association,  369,  376 
Sunday-School  Convention,  182,  376 
Sunday-School  Convention,  First,  366 
Sunday-school  lessons,   Uniform  and 

Graded,  1872-1925;  294 
uniform  lesson  system,  see  Uniform 
International  Lesson  System. 


Interrogatories,  see  Questionnaire. 
Ireland,  Sabbath-School  Society  for,  1862; 

28,  29 
Italy,  modern  Sunday-school  in,  34 
Ives,  E.,  149,  153 

Jacobs,  B.  F.,  298,  305 

Jacotot,  J.,  117 

James,  John   Angell,  and   the   voluntary 

system,  48 
Jesup,     Morris     Ketchum     (1830-1908), 

sketch  of  life  and  work,  434 
Johnson,  Frank,  27 
Johnson,  Samuel,  attitude  toward  juvenile 

literature,  140 
Johnstone,  W.  W.,  423 
Jones,  G.  S.,  1,165  Sunday-schools,  477 
Jubilee  of  American  Sunday-School  Union, 

1874;  257 
Judd,  Orange,  122 
Judson,  Albert,  112 
Judson's  Questions,  36,  107,  109,  113 
Juvenile     hymnology,     see     Hymnology, 

Juvenile. 
Juvenile  illustrated  periodicals*  162 
Juvenile  literature,  1800;  139,  462,  463 
creating  a  religious  type  of,  139,  140 
fiction  or  no?  144 
moral  works  in,  146 
religious  type  demanded,  141 
use  of  engravings  in,  144 
Juvenile  Psalmody  by  Thomas  Hastings, 

152 

Kennedy,  Robert  Lenox  (1822-87),   136, 
261 

sketch  of  life  and  work  of,  342 
Key,  Francis  Scott  (1780-1843),  100,  198 

sketch  of  life  and  work  of,  99 
Kidder,  D.  P.,  371,  379 
Knowles,   Levi   (1813-98),  sketch  of  life 

and  work  of,  345 
Knox,  Mrs.  Alice  W„  301-303 
Kramer,  George  W.,  283,  285 

Lain,  Thomas,  908  Sunday-schools  organ- 
ized by,  478 

Laity  in  Sunday-school  work,  61 

Lamb,  Charles,  attitude  toward  juvenile 
literature,  140 

Lancaster,  Joseph,  24,  49,  117 

Lancaster,  monitorial  and  mutual  system 
of  Bell  and,  24,  25,  117 
voluntary,    mutual,    and    monitorial 
system  of,  49 

Lane,  J.  P.,  478 

Lawrance,  Marion,  285 

Leadership,  trained  for  Sunday-school,  377 

Lecture  system  first  used  in  early  Sunday- 
school,  77 

Lectures  on  education  by  Horace  Mann, 
370 


INDEX 


493 


aids: 

American  Sunday-School  Union  Quar- 
terly, 1880;  171 
Graded  Helps  for  Uniform  Sunday- 
School  Lessons,  301 
Lessons  for  Every  Sunday  in  the  Year, 

122 
origin  and  growth  of,  103 
Primary  Quarterly,  172 
Questions  on  the  Historical  Parts  of 
the    New   Testament   by   Truman 
Parmele,  104 
Review  Wall  Chart,  171 
Select  Questions  (1828)  by  American 

Sunday-School  Union,  113 
Seton    and    Tomlinson's    scheme    of 
lessons    without    questions,     1823; 
104 
system  of  lessons  for  one  year  in  card 
form  by  American  Sunday-School 
Union,  105 
Home  study: 

Sunday-School  at  Home,  174 
Scholars: 

Junior  Quarterly  first  published,  1917; 

174 
Primary,  intermediate  and  advanced 

lesson  papers,  170,  171 
Scholars'    and    Teachers'    Quarterly 

Review  Paper,  171 
Scholars'  Companion,  171 
Scholars'  Handbook,  171,  302 
Teachers': 

American    Sunday-School    Magazine, 

370 
Little  People's  Lesson  Pictures,  174 
Scholars'    and    Teachers'    Quarterly 

Review  Paper,  171 
Superintendents'  Review  Paper,  171 
Lesson  commentaries,  111 

Barnes'  Notes,  115 
Lesson  Committee,  British  and  American 

Sections,  308 
Lesson  helps,  see  Lesson  Aids. 
Lesson  System  of   James  Gall,   see  Gall, 

James. 
Leveridge,  J.  W.  C,  328 
Lewis,   Martin  Brown   (1820-1912),   258, 
478 
conversion  of,  257 
sketch  of  life  and  work  of,  276 
Libraries,     Sunday-school,    see     Sunday- 
school  Circulating  Libraries. 
Libraries,   Ten    Dollar,  see   "Ten   Dollar 

Libraries." 
Libraries  for  schools  and  families,  146 
Life  of  Jesus  Christ  by  Richard  Newton, 

180 
Limited  lesson  system,  introduction  and 

rapid  adoption  of,  103 
Limited  uniform  lesson  plan  of  1825,  295 
Lincoln,  Abraham,  269 


Literature,  Juvenile,  see  Juvenile  Litera- 
ture. 
Little    Henry   and   His    Bearer   by    Mrs. 

Sherwood,  137,  146 
Lloyd,  W.  F.,  23,  37 
London  Hibernian  Society,  1806;  28 
London  Religious  Tract  Society,  391 
London  Sunday-School  Union,  381 

appropriation  for  a  French  Sunday- 
school  by,  33 

Baptists  active  in,  381 

"collective  system"  by,  295 

continental  missions,  33 

growth  of,  26,  27,  65 

history  of,  22,  23,  26,  34 

International  Bible  Readers'  Associa- 
tion and,  26 

Jubilee    Memorial    Building    erected, 
290 

promotion  of  popular  Bible  Study  in 
Europe  by,  32 

report  at  centenary  of,  27 

teacher-training  in,  25 

Union  Lessons  issued  by,  26 
Lord,  Eleazer,  55,  58 
Lowry,  Anna  L.,  333 
Luther,  Martin,  73 

Lutheran  General  Council,  housing  of,  291 
Lutheran  General  Synod,  housing  of,  291 
Lutherans,  Sunday-school  work  of,  382 

McAll,  Mission  in  Paris  founded  by,  33 
Macalluin,  A.,  305 
McAuley,  Thomas,  196,  352 
McConaughy,  James,  173 
McCook,  Henrv  C,  122,  299 
McCullagh,  John  (1811-88),  235,  251,  341, 
426,  478 

conversion  of,  257-259 

sketch  of  life  and  work  of,  269 
McCullagh,  Joseph  H.,  409,  426 
McDowell,  John,  102 
McDowell,  William  A.,  353 
McFarland,  D.  J.  T.,  379 
Mackenzie,  W.  D.,  382 
McLean,  John,  214 
"Mag,  the  Mother  of  Criminals,"  Story  of, 

264 
Malcolm,  Howard,  219,  320 
Male  Adult  Association,  1815;  60 
Mann,  Horace,  297 

lectures  on  education,  370 
Marsh,  L.  Milton  (1820-92),  244 

sketch  of  life  and  work  of,  278 
Martin,  Abraham,  "Father"  (1793-1880), 
343 

sketch  of  life  and  work  of,  136 
Martin,  E.  R.,  425 
Mason,  Lowell,  149 

Massachusetts  Sunday-School  Union,  380 
May,  Robert,  52,  70,  444 
Memorizing  era,  59,  69,  74,  101,  102 


494 


INDEX 


Methodist  Episcopal   bodies,   number  in 
America,  380 

Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  34,  292 

Methodist  (South),  history  and  work  of, 
379 

Methodist  Episcopal  publications,  see  De- 
nominational Publications. 

Methodist  Episcopal   Sunday-School   So- 
ciety, 122 

Methodist       Episcopal        Sunday-School 
Union,  1827;  133,  379 

Methodist,  Wesleyan,  Sunday-School  De- 
partment, 1908;  30 

Methodists,  Sunday-school  work  of,  378 

Methods  and  principles,  schools  of,  375 

Metropolitan     Tabernacle     (Spurgeon's) , 
London,  381 

Meyer,  F.  B.,  381 

Meyer,  H.  H.,  379 

Milk  for  Babes,   Cotton's   famous   cate- 
chism, 73 

Miller,  J.  R.,  383,  384 

Miller,  Lewis,  282,  373 

Miller,  Rufus  W.,  386 

Miller,  Samuel,  352 

Mimpriss,  simultaneous  instruction  scheme 
of,  294,  296 

Missionaries,  Sunday-school,  see  Sunday- 
school  Missionaries. 

Missionary  and  extension  work  systemat- 
ized, 219 

Missionary  conferences,  234 

Missionary  societies,  beginning  of,  188 

Missionary  work  in  the  West,  467 

Missionary  workers,  paid,  adopted  as  per- 
manent institution,  69 

Missions,  secretaries  of,  American  Sunday- 
School  Union,  1855-1917,  244 

Mississippi  Valley  Enterprise,  1830;  196, 
220,  223,  230 
difficulties  in  work  of,  228 
overlapping  of  the  Southern  and,  203 
proposed  in  the  convention  of  1830, 

352 
returns  from,  329 

Mize,  G.  E.,  478 

Monday  evening  meeting,  212 

Monitorial  and  mutual  systems  of  Lan- 
caster and  Bell,  24,  25,  117 

Monod,  Dr.,  founder  of  second  Sunday- 
school  in  Paris,  1842;  33 

Moody  Bible  Institute,  279 

Moody,  D wight  L.,  279,  297,  333 

Moral  Society  of  Pittsburgh,  53 

More,  Hannah,  13,  19,  20 

Mormonism   in   the   United  States,  412- 
415 

Mountain  section  of  United  States,  con- 
ditions in,  410,  428 

Moyamensing  Mission  (Holland  Memorial 
Presbyterian  Church),  275 

Muhlenberg  W.  A.,  152 


Mutual  and  monitorial  system  of  Bell  and 
Lancaster,  24,  25,  117 

National  Baptist  Convention   (Colored), 

291 
National  School  Society,  1811;  24 
National  Sunday-School  Convention,  304, 
353,  380 
call    issued    by    American    Sunday- 
School  Union,  1832;  468 
questionnaire  sent  before  first,  1832; 

469-474 
Trumbull,  H.  C.  and,  258 
Fifth,  366 

First,  125,  161,  354-356 
Fourth,  365 

Preliminary,  suggested  work  of,  352 
Second,  161,  359 
Sixth,  366   (became  first  International 

Sunday-School  Convention) 
Third,  178,  364 
National      Sunday-School      Conventions, 

comment  on  the  three,  362 
Negro  race  in  the  United  States,  religious 

condition  of,  411  , 

Negroes,  early  Sunday-school  work  among 
the,  68 
religious  condition  of,  429 
Netherlands  Sunday-School  Union,  1865; 

33 
Nevin's  Jewish  (biblical)  antiquities,  111 
New     England,     religious    condition    of, 

421 
New  England  Primer,  73 
New  York  Female  Sunday-School  Union 
Society  auxiliary  of  Sunday  and  Adult 
School  Union,  59 
New   York   Male   Sunday-School   Union, 

1820;  70,  71 
New    York    Sunday-School    Commission, 

1898;  385 
New  York  Sunday-School  Union,  184 
New  York  Sunday-School  Union  Societies, 

55,  59,  61,  91,  103,  107 
New  Zealand,  Sunday-schools  in,  35 
Newbery,  John,  139 
Newton,  John,  21 

Newton,  Richard  (1813-87),  155,  168,  299, 
300,  301,  305,  385 
editor    of    periodicals    of    American 

Sunday-School  Union,  166 
sketch  of  life  and  work,  180 
Newton,  Sir  Isaac,  200 
Newton  and  Allibone,  explanatory  series 

by,  122. 
"No  Debt"  policy  of  American  Sunday- 
School  Union,  241,  261 
effect  of  Civil  War  upon,  248 
success  of,  263 
Non-denominational    or    union    plan    of 

Sunday-school  adopted,  49 
Norrell,  A.  B.,  479 


INDEX 


405 


Northern  Baptist  Convention,  housing  of, 
291 

Northern  Convention,  380 

Northwest,  religious  condition  in  the,  423 

Norway  and  Denmark,  modern  Sunday- 
school  stimulated  in,  34 

"O.  B.,"  211 

Opposition  to  organized  union,  129 

Opposition    to     Sunday-schools     and    to 

unions,  128 
Organized  denominational  Sunday-school 

work,  378 
Organized  Sunday-school  societies,  21 
Ostrander,  J.  S.,  298 

Pacific     and     Rocky     Mountain     states, 

religious  condition  in,  416,  424 
Packard,  Frederick  Adolphus   (1829-67), 
344,  352,  372 
editor    of    American    Sunday-School 

Union,  98,  166 
inquiry  into  scope  of  juvenile  litera- 
ture, 139 
sketch  of  life  and  work  of,  174 
successor    to    Porter    as    editor    of 
American     Sunday-School     Maga- 
zine, 158 
Palmer,  Ray,  155 
Palmquist,  33 

Pardee,  Richard  Gay  (1811-69),  259,  371, 
372 
advocate    of    primary    class    system, 

304 
sketch  of  life  and  work  of,  184 
Sunday-School    Institute    Movement 
and,  297 
Parker,  Joel,  3521 
Parmele,  Truman,  104 
Parochial  schools,  books  used  in,  18 
Paxson,  Stephen  (1808-81),  235,  236,  269, 
274,  333,  341 
conversion  of,  257,  259 
discovery  of,  213 
sketch  of  life  and  work  of,  271 
Sunday-school  founding  work  of,  478 
Sunday-school    Institute    Movement, 
297 
Paxson,  William  P.   (1837-96),  sketch  of 

life  and  work,  274 
Peck,  John  M.,  213,  272 
Peloubet,  F.  N.,  382 

Penalties    and    rewards    in    the    Sunday- 
school,  75 
Pennsylvania,  rural,  religious  condition  of, 

406 
Pennsylvania  Bible  Society,  68 
Periodicals,  later  period,  168 
middle  period,  165 
new  illustrated,  166 
Perkins,  Theodore  E.,  154 
Pestalozzi,  Johann  Heinrich,  25,  116 


Philadelphia,  Association  of,  61,  63 

banner  city  in  Sunday-school  activity, 

136 
modern  Sunday-school  system  in,  70 
seat     of     American     Sunday-School 
Union,  79 
Philadelphia  Evangelical  Society,  attitude 
toward  Sunday-schools,  129 
work  of,  1808;  51 
Philadelphia  Male  Adult  Association,  1815; 

60 
Philadelphia  Protestant  Episcopal  Sunday 

and  Adult  Society,  62 
Philadelphia  Protestant  Episcopal  Sunday- 
School  Socitey,  385 
Philadelphia     Religious     Tract     Society, 

66 
Philippine     Islands,     Sunday-schools    in, 

34 
Piggot,  Robert,  68 
Plumer,  William  S.,  202 
Pollock,  James  (1810-90),  177 
Porter,  F.  W.,  corresponding  secretary  of 
American     Sunday-School     Union, 
98,  99,  322,  325 
editor  American  Sunday-School  Mag- 
azine, 91,  158 
Porter,  Noah,  212 

Portugal,  modern  Sunday-school  in,  34 
Post,  George  E.,  170 
Potter,  Alonzo,  Bishop,  385 
Presbyterian  Board  of  Publication,  383 

housing  of,  292 
Presbyterian  Church,  housing  of  home  and 
foreign  missionary  work  of,  292 
Sabbath  School  Society  for  Ireland, 

connected  with,  29 
Sunday-school    headquarters   of   the, 

292 
United,    housing    of    Sabbath-school 
work  of,  292 
Presbyterian  publications,  see  Denomina- 
tional Publications. 
Presbyterians,    Sunday-school     work    of, 

382 
Primary  class  system,  303 
"Prince  of  Children's  Preachers"  (Richard 

Newton),  180 
Principles  and  methods,  schools  of,  375 
Protestant    Episcopal    Church,    Sunday- 
school  work  in  the,  384 
Protestant  Episcopal  Sunday  and  Adult 

Society,  62 
Protestant       Episcopal       Sunday-School 

Union,  1826;  133,  385 
Pruest,  Stephen,  57 
Public  examinations,  113 

Questionnaires  of  First  National  Sunday- 
School  Convention,  1832;  469-474 

Questions  on  the  New  Testament  by 
Truman  Parmele,  1823;  104 


496 


INDEX 


Raikes,  Robert,  13 

aim  of  schools  of,  16,  17 
attempted  prison  reform,  14 
author  of  the  Sunday  Scholar's  Com- 
panion, 18 
Bible  student,  439 
Bible  the  text-book  in  schools  of,  16 
child  labor  and,  14 
discipline  in  schools  of,  439 
five  maxims  of,  16 
illustrative  method,  first  used  by,  18, 

19 
instruction  of,  18 
lack  of  cooperation  with,  15 
London  Sunday-School  Union  and,  22 
modern  Sunday-school  and,  14,  437 
monitorial  system  first  adopted  by,  15 
opposition  to  Sunday-schools  of,  440 
personality  of,  14 
plan  made  public,  16,  17 
Rev.  Thomas  Stock  and,  15,  16 
routine  of  school,  15 
school  in  "Sooty  Alley,"  15 
Sunday-school  in  America  before  time 

of,  42,  441 
voluntary     and     monitorial     system 

used  first  by,  17,  49,  438 
William  Fox  and,  21 
Raikes'  Centenary,  London,  1880,  Chid- 
law,  Union  representative  to,  268 
Fund  founded  by  Alexander  Brown, 
261,  328,  347 
Randolph,  Warren,  305 
Reese,  D.  M.,  357 

Reformed    Church   in   America    (Dutch), 

Sunday-school  work  of,  385 

in     the     United     States     (German), 

Sunday-school  work  of,  386 

Religious  condition  of  rural  America  in 

the  twentieth  centuiy,  388 

education,  views  of  Judge  McLean  on, 

216 
General  Board  of,  385 
Religious  Education  Association,  work  of 

teacher  training  of,  376 
Religious     progress,     influences     working 

against,  403 
Religious  publications,  see  Sunday-school 

periodicals  and  religious  publications. 
Religious    Tract   Society  of    London,  see 

London  Religious  Tract  Society. 
Religious  Tract  Society  of  Philadelphia, 
see    Philadelphia    Religious   Tract    So- 
ciety. 
Remley,  M.  A.,  219 
Revival,  religious,  1857;  59,  165 
Revivals,    religious,    result    of    work    of 
Sunday  and  Adult  School  Union,  67 
Union  Sunday-school  methods  cause, 
50 
Rewards   and   penalties   in   the   Sunday- 
Bchool,  75 


Reynolds,  W.,  297 
Rhodes,  C.  B.,  478 

Rice,  Edwin  Wilbur,  168,  257,  300,  301, 
327 
assistant  editor  of  periodicals,  256 
secretary  of  missions,  244 
editor  of   the    Scholars'    Companion 

(1878-79),  171 
editor    of    American    Sunday-School 

Union,  169 
executive     committee    of    American 

Sunday-School  Union,  241 
honorary  editor  of  American  Sunday- 
School  Union,  1915;  173 
improved  work  of  the  Union,  260 
instrumental  in  cancelling  the  Union's 

debt,  328 
lesson  helps  prepared  by,  302 
Scholars'    Handbook    on    the    Inter- 
national Lessons,  302 
Sunday-School    Institute    Movement 
and,  297,  372 
Rice,  John  H.,  65,  353 
Richmond,  Legh,  author  of  "The  Dairy- 
man's Daughter,"  143         •, 
Richter,  Jean  Paul,  294 
Robbins,  Samuel  J.,  95 
Roberts,  Richard,  384 
Robertson,  J.  C,  384 
Robinson,  Chas.  S.,  154 
Rocky     Mountain     and     Pacific     States, 

religious  condition  in,  412,  424 
Roman  Catholic,  opposition  of,  to  modern 

Sunday-school,  32,  34,  35,  38 
Roosevelt,  Theodore,  393 
Rush,  Benjamin,  of  First  Day  Society,  46 
Russia,  Sunday-schools  in,  34 

Sabbath  Association,  136,  212 

Sabbath-school,  see  Sunday-school. 

Say,  Benjamin,  of  First  Day  Society,  46 

"Schaff  Building,"  386 

Schaff,  Philip,  170 

Schumaker,    A.    J.    R.,    assistant    editor 

American  Sunday-School  Union,   1915; 

173 
Schwenckfelders,   Sunday-schools  among, 

43 
Scofield,  George  Starr  (1810-87),  sketch 

of  life  and  work  of,  186 
Scotland,  opposition  of  clergy  to  volun- 
tary, mutual,  and  monitorial  sys- 
tem in,  49 
Sabbath-schools  in,  31 
United  Free  Church,  384 
Scottish  National  Sabbath-School  Union, 

31 
Second  National  Convention,  see  National 

Convention,  Second. 
Select  Uniform  Lessons,  origin  and  growth 

of,  112 
Select  Uniform  Limited  Lessons,  161 


INDEX 


497 


Seton,  S.  W.  ("Father"),  59,  104,  112 
Seward,  B.  J.,  210,  267 
Sharpless,  Joseph,  of  First  Day  Society,  46 
Simultaneous     instruction,     method     of 

Robert  Mimpriss,  294,  296 
"Small  Rain,"  Abraham  Martin's  "Small- 
est Book  in  the  World,"  138 
Smiley,  W.  B.,  384 
Smith,  John  B.,  301 

Society  for  the  Support  and  Encourage- 
ment of  Sunday-Schools  in  the  Different 
Counties  of  England,  see  Sunday-School 
Society  of  1785. 
South,  religious  conditions  in  the,  409,  426. 

See  also  Southwest  section. 
South  America,  Sunday-schools  in,  35 
Southern  Baptist  Convention,  housing  of, 

291 
Southern  Convention,  380 
Southern  Enterprise,  202 
Southwest  Section,  religious  conditions  in, 

408,  425 
Spontaneity,  theory  of,  117 
Spain,  modern  Sunday-school  in,  34 
Spring,  Gardiner,  191 
State  Sunday-School  Unions  and  Conven- 
tions, 93,  337,  363 
Statistics  of  Sunday-schools  in  1825;  90 
Stephens,  Alexander  H.,  270 
Stevenson,  E.  B.,  333 
Stevenson,  J.  E.,  6 
Stock,  Eugene,  29,  36 
Stoughton,  C.  W.,  Housing  the  Church 

School,  285 
Stow,  David,  training  system  of,  25,  118, 

295 
Strong,  William  (1808-95),  sketch  of  life 

and  work  of,  346 
Stuart,  George  Hay  (1816-90),  305 
sketch  of  life  and  work  of,  340 
Stuart,  Moses,  212 

Sunday  and  Adult  School  Union,   1817; 
384 
aim  of,  67 
American    Sunday-School    Magazine 

planned  by,  91 
approves   constitution  for  American 

Sunday-School  Union,  78 
amazing  progress  of,  66 
center    of    plans   for    Sunday-School 

Union,  72 
first  managers  of,  63 
literature  and  its  results,  66 
name  changed  to  American  Sunday- 
School  Union,  1824;  392,  447-451 
New    York    Female    Sunday-School 

Union  Society  auxiliary  to,  59 
Philadelphia  Religious  Tract  Society 

hands  over  its  work  to,  66 
Teachers'  Offering  or  Sabbath  Schol- 
ars' Magazine  planned  by,  91 
wide  field  of  service,  67 


Sunday  and  Adult  School  Union,    work 
among  the  Indians,  68 

work  among  the  negroes,  68 

See    also    American    Sunday-School 
Union. 
Sunday-school,     adoption    of     voluntary 
principle  in,  17 

advocates  for,  20 

aids  on  lessons,  1822;  103 

Archbishop  of  Canterbury  and,  20 

attitude  in  America  toward,  40,  43 

books  first  used  in,  16,  18 

call  for  world-wide  mission  work,  205 

centenary  of,  1880;  38 

Chautauqua,  1874;  373 

church  unfriendly  toward,  281 

commentaries  first  used,  111 

condition  in  England  before,  11, 12,  36 

connection  between  church  and,  54 

conventions  in,  191,  351 

denounced  by  the  Bishop  of  Roches- 
ter, 20 

divided  views  of  clergymen  on,  61,  62 

early,  individualism  in,  104 

early  teaching  methods  in,  76 

effect  of  Revival  of  1857-59  on,  165 

European  war's  effect  on,  39 

expansion  in  Great  Britain,  37 

finances,  193,  318 

first  fifty  years  of,  35 

graded,  59,  74 

growth  of,  64 

handicaps  to,  55 

Home  Department  established,  110 

illustrative  method  first  used,  18 

in  Africa,  34,  35 

in  America,  52 

in  Asia,  34 

in  Austria,  34 

in  Central  America,  35 

in  Continental  Europe,  32,  33,  34,  38 

in  Fiji  Islands,  35 

in  New  Zealand,  35 

in  Philippine  Islands,  34 

in  Scotland,  31 

in  South  America,  35 

indifference  to,  15 

inductive  theory  of  education  applied 
to,  116 

International  Bible  Readers'  Associa- 
tion and  the,  26 

lack  of  sympathy  with,  15 

laity  in,  61 

membership  in  1913;  368 

memorizing  era,  74 

missionary    and    extension    work    of, 
188,  195,  202 

monitorial  system  in  the,  15,  24,  25 

need  for  Christian  unity  in,  428 

number  needed  in  the  United  States, 
429 

number  still  outside,  420 


498 


INDEX 


Sunday-school,  obstacles  to  growth,  38,  41 
opposition  to,  19,  37,  48,  128, 157, 190, 

440 
origin  of,  11 
origin     of     non-denominational     or 

union  plan  in,  49 
pioneer  of  the  church,  247 
present  condition  in  the  United  States, 

419,  421 
present  task  of,  428 
Primary,  136 

Primary  Class  system  used,  303 
public  examinations,  113 
Raikes  and,  14-17,  437 
Roman  Catholic  opposition  to,  32,  34 

35,  38 
schools  of  principles  and  methods,  375 
spirit  of  Christian  unity,  70 
statistics  of,  419 
systematic  surveys,  219 
teacher-training  in,  25,  114 
trained  leadership  in  the,  377 
union  type  of,  19 
widening  activities  of,  64 
women's  work  in,  207 
modern  buildings,  George  W.  Kramer, 
designer  of,  283 
Lewis  Miller,  designer  of,  282 
sources  of  plans  for,  285 
Sunday-school  and  church,  union  of  urged 
by  American  Sunday-School  Union,  89 
Sunday-school  circulating  libraries,  146 
American  Sunday-School  Union  and, 

221,  233 
established  in  the  South,  205 
growth  of,  201 
New  York  Union  Society  promoter  of, 

59 
"O.    B."   encourages  establishing  of, 

211 
originated  by  First  Day  Society,  47 
women's  work  for,  207 
Sunday-school  conventions,  national.     See 
National    Sunday-school    Conventions, 
International.     See   International  Sun- 
day-school    Conventions,     State.      See 
State       Sunday-school       Conventions, 
World.    See  World  Sunday-school  Con- 
ventions. 
Sunday-school  conventions  or  associations, 

dissension  over,  369 
Sunday-school  evangelism,  263,  376,  377 
Sunday-school  hymnology,  59,   152.     See 

also  Hymnology. 
Sunday-School    Institute    of    Church    of 

England,  29 
Sunday-school  institutes,  259,  297,  370 
Sunday-school  instruction,  early  modes  of, 
72,  76,  77 
fundamentals  of,  119 
theory  of  spontaneity  applied  in,  117 
use  of  catechetical  lessons,  77 


Sunday-school     instruction,    verse-a-day 
plan  not  feasible  in,  119 
word  method  of  Jacotot  rejected,  117 
See   also  Sunday-school  Lesson  Sys- 
tems. 
Sunday-school  lesson  aids,  see  Lesson  Aids. 
Sunday-school  lesson  systems: 
American  Graded  Series,  316 
"Babel"  Series,  296 
Berean  Series,  122,  296 
Chicago      Sunday-School      Teachers' 
Quarterly  (afterward  the  National 
Sunday-School  Teacher),  296 
Collective  System,  295 
differences  in  British  and  American, 

314 
Diocesan  Lesson  System,  1885;  385 
estimates  of,  309 
"Explanatory"   and  "Union"   Series, 

122,  296 
First    Yearly    Course    of    Scripture 

Lessons  for,  457 
Gall's  Lesson  System,  294 
Graded  Series,  385 
International  Lessons, 'Uniform  and 

Graded,  1872-1925;  294 
present  status  of   International  Uni- 
form Lessons,  431 
New  Graded  Systems,  432 
Standard  Graded  Courses,  316 
Stow's  Training  System,  295 
Westminster    Series    by    Henry    C. 

McCook,  122,  296 
See  also  Sunday-school  instruction. 
Sunday-school     methods,      weakness     of 

present,  430 
Sunday-school  missionaries,   68,   93,    190, 
192,  210,  211,  213,  220,  264 
forming  1,000  or  more  Sunday-schools, 

477 
student,  223,  225,  243,  244 
tribute  to,  397 
Sunday-school   missionary  and  extension 
work,  difficulties  in,  228 
early,  192 

effect  of  Civil  War  on,  248 
John  Adams  and,  235 
in  the  future,  429 
missionary  conferences,  234 
systematized,  219 
Sunday-school  missionary  work,  1824-74, 

computed  results  of,  257 
Sunday-school  officers  and  teachers,  num- 
ber in  1913,  368 
Sunday-school    periodicals    and    religious 
publications: 
American    Sunday-School   Magazine, 

1823;  91,  158,  370 
Baptist  Teacher,  291 
Bay  Psalm  Book,  42 
Bible  Class  Magazine,  27 
Boys  of  Our  Empire,  27 


INDEX 


499 


Sunday-school    periodicals    and  religious 
publications: 

Child's  Companion,  1824;  163 

Child's  Own  Book,  27 

Child's  Own  Magazine,  27 

Child's  World,  1862;  164,  167 

Christian  Advocates  (Methodist),  292 

Congregationalist,  381 

Evangelical  Primer,  1810;  73 

Excelsior,  27 

Girls  of  Our  Empire,  27 

Golden  Rule,  27 

Illustrated  Treasury  of  Knowledge 
and  Truth  in  Life  merged  in  the 
People's  Paper,  1888;  172 

Infants'  Magazine,  1829;  34,  160,  164 

Junior  Quarterly,  1917;  174 

Kind  Words,  27 

Little  Henry  and  His  Bearer,  66 

Milk  for  Babes,  42,  73 

New  England  Primer,  42,  73 

Picture  World,  174 

Pilgrim  Teacher,  291,  381 

Sabbath-School  Treasury,  381 

Sabbath-School  Visitor  (Presbyte- 
rian), 383 

Sunday  Hour,  1883;  172 

Sunday-School  Advocate,  379 

Sunday-School  at  Home,  173,  174 

Sunday-School  Banner,  1859;  164,  167 

Sunday-School  Child's  Repository, 
1815;  162 

Sunday-School  Chronicle,  27,  37 

Sunday-School  Gazette,  164 

Sunday-School  Journal  and  Advocate 
of  Christian  Education,  119,  126, 
160,  162,  167,  292,  323,  354,  379 

Sunday-School  Magazine,  98 

Sunday-School  Repository  or  Teach- 
ers' Magazine,  27,  37,  91,  159 

Sunday-School  Teacher,  27,  37,  122 

Sunday-School  Times,  1859;  115,  162, 
165,  179,  183,  248,  323,  324 

Sunday-School  World,  166,  167,  168, 
169,  173,  301 

Teachers'  Magazine,  31 

Teachers'  Offering,  91,  163 

Truth  in  Life,  172 

Union  Magazine,  37 

Union  Primer,  94 

Visitor,  1850;  379 

Wellspring,  381 

Young  England,  27 

Young  People's  Paper,  1891;  173,  174 

Youth's  Friend,  91,  160 

Youth's  Magazine,  27,  162 

Youth's  Penny  Gazette,  1842;  164, 
167 

Youth's  Sunday-School  Gazette,  167 
Sunday-school  rewards  and  penalties,  75 
Sunday-school  scholars,  public  examina- 
tion of,  59 


Sunday-school  societies,  unions,  etc. : 

American    Baptist    Publication    So- 
ciety, 380 
American  Church  Sunday-School  In- 
stitute of  1875;  62,  385 
American  Sunday-School  Union,  1824; 

79 
Association  of  Philadelphia,  1817;  61 
Australian  Sunday-School  Union,  34 
Baptist  Conventions,  380 
Board    of    Publication    (Dutch    Re- 
formed), 1863;  386 
British  and  Foreign  School  Society,  24 
Church    of    England    Sunday-School 

Institute,  1843;  29 
Congregational     Board    of    Publica- 
tion, 1854;  381 
Edinburgh     Gratis     Sabbath-School 

Society,  1796;  31 
Evangelical  Society  of  Philadelphia, 

1808;  51 
Female  Union  Society  for  Promotion 

of  Sabbath-Schools,  1816;  57 
First  Day,  or  Sunday-School  Society, 

44,  384 
French  Sunday-School  Society,  33 
General   Board   of   Religious  Educa- 
tion, 1910;  385 
Glasgow  Sabbath-School  Union,  31 
Hibernian  Sunday-School  Society  of 

Ireland,  1809;  28,  29 
India  Sunday-School  Union,  34,  35 
London  Hibernian  Society,  1806;  28 
London  Sunday-School  Union,  27,  28 
Male  Adult  Association,  1815;  60 
Massachusetts     Sabbath-School     So- 
ciety, 1832;  381 
Methodist  Episcopal   Sunday-School 

Union,  1827;  379 
Moral  Society  of  Pittsburgh,  1809;  53 
National  School  Society,  24 
New     York      Male      Sunday-School 

Union,  70 
New     York     Female    Sunday-School 

Union,  57,  58,  445 
New  York  Sunday-School  Commis- 
sion, 1898;  385 
Philadelphia  Protestant  Episcopal 
Sunday  and  Adult  Society,  1817;  62 
Presbyterian  Board  of  Publication,  383 
Protestant  Episcopal  Sunday-School 

Union  of  1826;  385 
Sabbath-School  Society  for   Ireland, 

1862;  29 
Scottish      National      Sabbath-School 

Union,  31 
Sundav  and  Adult  School  Union,  1817; 

59,  63,  384 
Union  Society  of  1804,  51 
Utica  Union  Sunday-School,  456 
Wesleyan  Sunday-School  Union,  1875; 
30 


500 


INDEX 


Sunday-school  societies  organized,  21 
Sunday-School  Society  of  1785;  21,  22,  26 
Sunday-School  supplies,  early,  74 
Sunday-school  teacher-training,  brief  his- 
tory of,  376 
schools  for,  461 
work  of  R.  G.  Pardee  for,  259 
Sunday-school  teachers,  institutes  for,  370 

public  examination  of,  59 
Sunday-School  Times,  1859;  115,  165,  179, 
183,  323,  324 
issued   by   American    Sunday-School 

Union,  248 
successor  to  Sunday-School  Journal, 
162 
Sunday-School  Union  College  for  Teach- 
ers, 25 
Sunday-school      Unions,     denominational 

movement  for  organization  of,  133 
Sunday-school  work,  organized  denomina- 
tional, 378,  386,  387 
housing  of,  290 
Sunday-School  World,  1861;  162-169,  173, 

301 
Sunday-schools: 

first    proposal    of    union    of    all    in 

United  States,  71 
number  in  1913;  368 
statistics  in  1825;  90 
See  also  Church  schools. 
Sunday-schools  before  Robert  Raikes,  441 
Survey,  systematic,  after  the  Civil  War, 
261 
in  the  United  States,  254 
Sweden,  Sunday-schools  in,  33 

Tappan,  Arthur,  196 

W.  B.,  152 
Taylor,  Alfred,  298,  372 

Jane,  151 
Teacher-training,  beginning  of,  25,  114 

Birmingham  Sunday-School  Teachers' 
College,  25 

correspondence  classes  in,  25 

schools  of,  375,  461 

Sunday-school,  254 

three  chief  divisions  in,  372 

See    also    Sunday-school    institutes, 
Sunday-school  teacher-training. 
Teacher-training     Institute     by     Baptist 

Publication  Society,  380 
Teacher-training  manuals,  177,  183,  372 
Teaching  methods,  76 
Temperance,  211 
Temperance  publications,  172 
"Ten  Dollar  Libraries,"  by  G.  S.  Scofield, 

186 
Territorial  expansion  in  a  century  in  the 

United  States,  396 
Thomas,  Geo.  C,  385 
Thomas,  William,  385 
Thompson,  Peter,  46 


Ticket    currency,   use   in   Sunday-school, 

52 
Tomlinson,  W.  A.,  112,  357 
Tousley,  Lorin  B.,  184,  236,  217,  218 

sketch  of  life  and  work  of,  217 
Training  system,  25,  118,  295 
Trumbull,  Henry  Clay  (1830-1903),  168, 
258,  298,  300,  301,  371 
Normal  Secretary  of  American  Sun- 
day-School Union,  372 
marvelous  work  of,  400 
sketch  of  life  and  work  of,  182 
Sunday-school    Institute    Movement 
and, 297 
Sunday-School  Times  sold  to,  166,  179 
Tyng,  Stephen  H.,  196,  305,  353,  385 

Uniform  International  Lesson  System,  33, 

36,  309,  310,  344,  431 
Uniform  Lessons,  1872;  158,  283 
advocated  by  Trumbull,  259 
American  Sunday-School  Union,  pio- 
neers of,  106,  107 
circulation  of,  115 
combined  system  of  Judson  and  Fisk, 

109 
continued  in  Union  Questions,  121 
effort  to  interest  publishers  in,  298 
features  of,  114 
first  committee,  305 
five  stages  leading  up  to,  294 
Gall's  system,  110 
Hall  and  the,  181 

public  examination  introduced,  113 
Uniform     Limited     Bible     Lessons,    see 

Bible  Lessons,  Uniform  Limited. 
Union  lessons,  history  of,  26 
Union  plan  of  Sunday-school  adopted,  49 
Union  Questions,  113,  161 

combined  system  of  Judson  and  Fisk, 

109 
general  approval  of,  296 
Hall  and  the,  126 
nine-year  cycle,  113 
reduced  output  cost,  187 
Uniform  Lesson  System  continued  in, 
121 
Union  Society  of  1804;  51 
United  Brethren,  headquarters  for  Bible 

work  of,  292 
United  Free  Church  of  Scotland,  384 
United    Presbyterian,    see    Presbyterian, 

United. 
United  States,  Eastern  Central,  religious 
conditions  in,  422 
Eastern  Middle,  religious  conditions 

in,  405 
immigration  problem  in,  400 
mountainous  section,  religious  condi- 
tions in,  410,  412,  424,  428 
negro  race,  religious  condition  of,  411, 
427 


INDEX 


501 


United    States,    New    England,  religious 

condition  of,  421 

Northwest,  religious  condition  in,  406, 
423 

number  of  Sunday-schools  needed  in, 
429 

Pacific  Coast  Section,  religious  con- 
ditions in,  412,  416,  424 

present  condition  of  Sunday-schools 
in,  421 

rural,  religious  conditions  in,  402,  421 

Southern,  religious  conditions  in,  408, 
409,  425,  426 

territorial  expansion  in  century  in  the, 
396 

total  area  of,  429 

See  also  America. 
United  States  Commission,  work  of,  393 
Utica  Union  Sunday-School,  456 

Van  Meter,  C.  W.,  34 
Van  Pelt's  schoolroom,  285 
Varick,  Richard,  58 
"Verse-a-day"  plan,  119,  161 
Vincent,  John  H.,  298,  299,  371,  379 

author  of  Berean  Lessons,  122 

Chautauqua    movement    started   by, 
373 

Sunday-school     institute     movement 
and,  297 
Vindication  of  Sunday-schools,  122,  143 
Volkeschule,  religious  instruction  in,  32 
Voluntary,   mutual,  and    monitorial    sys- 
tem, 49 
Voluntary  system,  192 

applied  by  Robert  Raikes,  17,  438 

growth  in  popularity  of,  55 

in  America,  48 

James  and  the,  48 

objections  advanced  against,  56 

Waldensian  Society,  work  in  Italy,  34 

Walker,  Robert,  13 

Wanamaker,  John,  166,  179,  383 

Waters,  Charles,  381 

Watts,  Isaac,  147,  155 

Wayland,  Francis,  352 

Webster,  Daniel,  199 

Wells,  Amos  R.,  382 

Wello,  Fred.  A.,  337 


Wells,  Joseph,  424 

Wells,  Ralph,  297,  304,  371 

Wesley,  Chas.,  155,  188 

Wesleyan  Sunday-School  Union,  1875;  30 

Westbrook,  R.  B.,  243 

White,  Bishop,  43,  45,  62,  133,  384 

Whitfield,  188 

Whittingham,  Bishop,  385 

Williams,  George  P.,  244 

H.  J.,  322 

M.  H.,  169,  172,  173 

William,  357 
Winchester,  Benjamin  S.,  310 
Wirt,  William,  Hon.,  199 
Wise,  Daniel,  379 
Women,  207 

as  authors,  209 
Woodruff,  Albert,  255 

London  Union  and,  26 

promoter  of  Sunday-schools,  33 
Woods,  Leonard,  212 
Worden,  James  A.,  383 
World  Sunday-School  Conventions,   268, 

367,  368 
Wright,  Thos.,  333 

Wurts,     Maurice     Alexander     (1820-81), 
257,  327J 

Executive  Committee  of  the  American 
Sunday-School  Union,  241 

improved  administrative  work  of  the 
Union,  260 

secretary  of  missions,  244 

sketch  of  life  and  works  of,  275 
"Wurts  Fund,"  326,  343 

Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  279 
Young  People's- Paper,  1891;  173,  174 
Youth's  Friend,  circulation  of,  94 
John  Hall,  office  editor  of,  126 
name  of  Teachers'  Offering  or  Sab- 
bath Scholars'   Magazine  changed 
to,  91 
Youth's  Friend  and  Scholars'  Magazine, 

160,  163 
Youth's  Magazine,  162 
Youth's  Penny  Gazette,  1842;  164,  167 
Youth's  Sunday-School  Gazette,  167 
Youth's  World,  172,  173 

Zinzendorf,  Count  Ludwig,  43 


3NESDAY.    DECEMBER    4.    1929. 


REV.  DR.  E.  W.RICE 
DIES  IN  99TH  YEAR 

Was  Oldest  Alumnus  of  Union 

College  and  Last  Survivor 

of  Class  of  '54. 


EDITOR      AND      MISSIONARY 


Wrote    op    Edited    400  .  Publications 

While    Director  of   American 

Sunday  School   Union. 


Special  to  The  New  York  Times. 

PHILADELPHIA,  Dec.  3.-The 
Rev.  Dr.  Edwin  Wilbur  Rice,  min- 
ister, editor  and  last  surviving  mem- 
ber of  the  class  of  1854  at  Union 
College,  Schenectady,  N.  Y.,  died 
today  at  his  home  here  in  his  ninety- 
ninth  year.  He  caught  a  cold  in 
October,  but  had  been  seriously  ill 
only  a  few  days. 

He  was  the  father  of  Dr.  E.  Wilbur 
Rice  Jr.,  former  president  of  the 
General  Electric  Company  and  now 
honorary  chairman  of  the  board.  He 
is  survived  also  by  two  other  sons, 
Martfn  P.  Rice,  manager  of  the  pub- 
licity department  of  the  General 
Electric  Company,  and  James  G., 
Rice,  with  whom  he  lived.  His  wife, 
Mrs.  Mary  Gardner  Rice,  who  was  a 


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